Danganronpa XX: Vanity Of Justice
by ArcLagoon
Summary: There are two kinds of people in this world. The ones who become stronger as their resolve is tested against impending odds, and ones who feel everything they've stood by fall away into nothing. In the 20th Danganronpa game, Which one will you be?
1. Prologue: Part 1

Prologue, Part 1: First Admission to Enoshima University

"Where am I? Why is it dark?" A boy in his locker muttered out as the air escaping his nose hit in front of him, making his face moist with condensation. He felt like his arms were pinned to his sides, he could barely breathe, the cool metal at his sides pushed on his chest if he took too much air into his diaphragm. He felt a light hit his eyes, so he leaned forward slightly, seeing a grated set of ports in front of his eyes.

"Is this… a classroom?" He asked himself looking through the little port, leaning his weight into it to see if he could steady his view. There were rows upon rows of desks descending downward to a projector screen in the front of the room. Suddenly, the door opened, and he landed on his face. "G-god damn it…" He muttered, feeling the cool wooden floor on his face, before pushing his hand onto the ground and standing himself up.

He turned around to see where he fell from. Did someone stuff him into a locker? It was silver, the lock looking bent from him putting all his weight against it earlier. "...Who still stuffs people into lockers, seriously?" He muttered to himself as he softly began to rub his head, when he suddenly realized something. "...How did I get in that locker?" He asked, walking up to it and slowly inspecting it. It didn't seem like there was anything out of -place- with the locker, but… who puts lockers in a classroom? They are usually in the halls, not the classroom.

He searched his head to see what he could remember of the past few days… but it felt like that one time he got home from the dentist and laid in his bed while the medication made him saw dancing skeletons for hours. He tucked his hands into the pocket of his sweater vest as he slowly walked down the stairs, the desks slowly passing him as he walked up to the small pedestal with the screen on it.

"...Maybe I can figure out where I am if I turn the projector on?" He wondered aloud, gently pushing the button, the light turning on and hitting the blackboard behind him. He turned to face it, but the image it was showing was obfuscated by the blackboard not showing the projector light all that well. He walked up to see a tightly wrapped projector screen, wrapping a finger around a hook and pulling it down to reveal the image being projected.

Strangely, it was a teddy bear, almost a close up of the picture of the teddy bear. It had a seam in the middle that separated its white half, a Build-a-Bear knock off with a button for an eye, from its black half. The black half had a wicked, toothy grin and a glowing, jagged red eye. The picture was unmoving, the boy just watched the picture of the bear to see if it would move at all.

"Apparently this is teddy bear class. That was no help at all." He complained, shaking his head and walking to the door of the room, putting his hand on the handle and trying to push it open… But it was locked, and no matter how hard he pushed, it wouldn't give. "Aaaaand I'm locked inside. This day sucks already." He said, shaking his head disappointedly, but when he turned around… he noticed something.

The windows have been barred off. The steel on the windows looked about 2 inches thick, secured by industrial level bolts on all four corners of the window, and the only light besides the dim, dying fluorescent lighting was the light of the projection of a teddy bear on the wall. He looked over to the corner of the room, where he heard a suspicious beeping noise and a red light. A small camera sitting over a small TV monitor were placed in the corner of the room, with an intercom underneath it that he could only assume is a PA system. Did someone trap him in this room?

Before he could investigate anything, he heard a rattling from one of the lockers he fell from, along with a muffled voice. "Hello!? I'm stuck! Heeeeeelp." A female voice cried out, gently pounding the door with enough force to make it shake, but not enough to make them fall out like an idiot like he just did.

An instinctive feeling of wanting to help filled his head, running his way up the stairs and making it to the locker. Compared to his locker, her locker had a combination lock on it. "H-hey! Are you okay in there? This lock has a combination on it, lemme see if I can figure out the combination on the lock." He tried to console the woman in the locker.

"T-there's a padlock?" The voice whimpered out from the locker, giving a resigned sigh as the shaking and punching of the door stopped. "B-be calm okay? If you struggle too much you'll hyperventilate." He warned, when suddenly he heard a voice behind his back.

"Hey, ya idiot!" The voice called behind him in a singsong voice. He turned around, and the picture of the bear seemed to move, backing up just a bit to see the rest of it in profile. It was chubby, and looked about.. A foot or two tall unless it was one of those uncomfortably big teddy bears. The strange part… it was moving on it's own. It almost looked like a character from one of those 3D animated movies… if the texture wasn't so real looking.

"Now I dunno who in the hell decided to put a lock on that locker, but I'll wring em, you hear me?" The bear crudely remarked… At least the voice of the bear spoke, it's mouth didn't move when it spoke. "Lemme help out, I can't get my game started unless I get all you idiots in the same room together." He said, before the projector switched to a camera feed from the camera he saw in the corner.

The boy standing near the locker had messy brown hair to his shoulders, and was wearing a simple button up long sleeved shirt, over the shirt was a dark maroon sweater vest, and a beige pair of slacks. "And I'm talking to -YOU- Kenji Taisei, this is the only room I'm speaking to right now!" The bear complained, before a cartoon arrow pointed to one of the desks.

"I guess he's referring to me, huh… I almost forgot my name for a second." Kenji said, trying to remedy the migraine he was feeling that made him forget so much in the heat of the moment.

"That desk has the combination you want to free the girl in the locker. Now excuse me while I go get my flamethrower to burn the shit outta the one Monokuma who decided to be sassy with me." He said, quickly going off screen to reveal a room only detailed with a dim red light, before a quick static cut back to the live feed of Kenji in the room the indicator still pointing to the desk that the bear mentioned earlier.

He slowly approached the desk, his video feed self matching his movements. He looked away from the video feed, turning to the desk and opening it up. There was a small slip of paper with the numbers 22L - 31R - 12L with a small smiley face on the end of what felt like a fortune cookie paper. He ran to the locker, hearing the shaking of the door start up again as he muttered the numbers to himself, spinning the lock left, right, then left until the locker opened and a girl fell from leaning her weight onto the door just like he did.

"W-woaaaah!" She shouted, falling into his arms, making him stumble back and hit his head on the floor, rattling him as the girl landed safely on top of him. "Oh no! I killed him!" The girl shouted, gently grabbing him by the shoulders and gently shaking him to try and get him to focus, his eyes rolling around like a pair of googly eyes as she did.

"W-where we gonna go at the fair next, mommy?" Kenji said in a daze, before his vision focused on the girl shaking him by the lapels. She was wearing… an officer's uniform, oddly a deep blue blouse and undershirt, with a skirt that modestly covers just past her knees, along with black shoes and stockings on the rest of her leg. A small blue Japanese police hat on her head, framing her neat, dark blue hair and curious purple eyed stare. From this close, the first thing he thought was 'she's actually kind of cute' before the extreme pain in the back of his head attacked again, almost punishing him for making that his first thought upon seeing her.

"Ow! I'm awake! Stop shaking me!" Kenji said, the girl stopping and scrambling off him.

"Oh! Thank goodness! Sorry! I was getting claustrophobic in there!" she said, offering a hand. Kenji took it, getting up.

"It's fine.I wasn't handling much better in there." Kenji said

"So uhm… You're Kenji Taisei, right? It's what that… weird voice said, right?" She asked with a little hammer gesture to her open palm. Kenji nodded, gently scratching his head as he took her hand and stood himself back up to his feet.

"Y-yeah… And who are you?" He asked her, she performed a little salute as she announced herself.

"Cadet Akira Kazue, official member of the Kyoto Prefecture police! I'm here to protect and serve!" She announced very officially, but he just stood there and blinked for a few seconds. "Okay, so you're a cop. Do you know who kidnapped me and brought me here? Do you even know what this place is?" Kenji asked, though his headache made him keep seeing two of her as he spoke.

"Well… I was invited to officially join Enoshima University… A college funded by the government in honing and finding the students with the best talents in Japan. But… I passed out and I woke up in a locker." She stated, looking at Kenji. "Did you know that?" She asked, but Kenji got lost in thought again.

"...Why don't I remember that?" He asked, before the bear appeared again on the screen.

"We might have dropped you a few times while we were taking you to your locker. Don't worry about it, though! My mother always told me 'there's nothing a little brain damage can't fix!" He stated with a happy tone, before the screen finally turned off to a test card.

"...And now I'm even more concerned." Kenji said, in defeat. But Akira's high pitched orotund voice sort of inspired a small bit of optimsm every time that she announces something in response.

"Well don't worry! As a citizen of Japan and in service to my country, I'll make sure I protect you while we navigate the dangerous corridors of the school!" She said, offering a contagious smile that invaded Kenji's face, making him softly smile as well.

"Y-yeah!" Kenji replied, before the bear showed up on the screen one last time.

"Now hurry up and introduce yourself to everyone else in the main hall. We got like… 14 more people you need to say hi to and I don't wanna be here all day." The bear spoke hurriedly, trying to get the two of them to get a move on already. The two stared in confusion as the projector screen flickered off.

"Did he say there was more people than just us trapped here?" Kenji asked, Akira gave a cautious nod as they looked at the exit of the classroom they were in. "This was locked the last time I tried to open it." He said, approaching the door and turning the knob. Lo and behold, it opened properly this time, the door creaking open to the main stairway leading to the first floor.

Over the balcony, there seemed to be a small crowd forming in the main hall. Many of them looked as confused as Kenji had been, looking around the main hall the TV monitor in the center, a camera hanging beneath it. The camera turned and swiveled, aiming and zooming at each person in the room, turning back and aiming at Kenji and Akira as they passed by.

The person standing at the stairs was a young man wearing a coat slightly too big for him, he had his hands on his hips, but they were still in his sleeves. His blonde mop of hair framing his face as Akira and Kenji made their way down the stairs, the boy turning to stare at him. "Uh… hey, I'm Kenji. You the doorman?" he said with a chuckle, trying to break the ice, only for the young man to stare at him blankly.

"No. I'm Yukiji Chimon." He said in a dead sounding voice.

 **Yukiji Chimon. Ultimate Chessmaster.**

"Oh. Okay, so why are you out here?" Akira asked. "Aren't we supposed to be in the main hall?"

"It's too loud in there, I like it here, where I can think." Yukiji said, gently tilting his head to look at Kenji and Akira.

"Well, yeah, but I think we might have to get inside the main hall before we can figure out why we're here." Kenji replied to him, Yukiji just put his hands in his pockets and continued to stare at them. "Uhh… Akira. A lil help please?" He asked her, feeling uncomfortable. Akira nodded and turned to Yukiji.

"I know it can be tough to handle a loud place, maybe you could stay in the corner and wait until the crowd clears out a little. Is that alright?" She offered with a small smile on her face, the way she spoke to him kind of reminded him of how his old middle school teacher spoke to him. Clear and easy to understand, Kenji guessed she really was a police cadet. Yukiji simply nodded and moved from the door. The three soon entered, camera focusing on them and bringing the remaining 13 people's attention to them.

Yukiji shrunk behind Akira and Kenji, putting the focus the pair. 13 sets of eyes staring that at them while they walked up to everyone, Yukiji staying behind. Kenji walked over near the center of the room, but somewhat behind a group of people in front of him, when a hole opened up near the center of the entrance hall.

"Tadaaaah~!" The bear that Kenji recognized earlier on the projector screen stood on one leg, pretending he was swimming in mid air before hopping onto its two little stuffed paw pads. "Missed me, didn't ya?" He asked, looking at one of the cameras, which made the video feed make him look head on at the rest of the classmates.

"You gotta be fuckin' kidding me! Is that a goddamned teddy bear?!" shouted a woman in a black duster, jeans and a cap, gripping a wooden baseball bat loaded with bent, rusting nails.

"I am *NOT* a teddy bear! I've been doing this years and everyone keeps saying I'm a teddy bear! My name is Monokuma why thank you beary much!" the bear shouted, shifting from annoyance to humor, getting only a collective of groans from the gathered students, Kenji looking at this all in confused awe. The bear was real and it had a name.

"Look, Teddy, I don't know what sick fuckin' joke you're playing here, but you better start explaining just what the hell is going on here or I'm gonna bust your little bear skull right here and right now!" the woman shouted, pointing the nailed bat at Monokuma.

"I would… advise against that, violence against the headmaster is strictly prohibited!" He said, gently poking a finger against the nail covered bat. "That, and I'll blow up if you hit me with that bat, sweet cheeks. So don't try it, 'kay?" he said, raising a clawed paw, red eye glowing. The woman growled and dropped her bat, snarling at Monokuma.

"As much of a degenerate as she is, she raises a good point." said a white-haired young man clad in glasses over his hazel eyes, adjusting his tie before putting his hands behind his back. "You, Monokuma, owe us an explanation. Several, in fact. Who are you? What are you? Where are we? Why are we here?" he said, holding up a finger for each question.

"Ah, very observant, well I have already told you that I'm Monokuma. As for what I am, I am the Headmaster of Enoshima University, though I am considering the title of 'Dean Monokuma.' It sounds so dignified~ And I am allll about dignity." Monokuma said, everyone in the room letting out faint murmurs of discussion. It seemed that no matter what came out of Monokuma's mouth, it made less sense than what he said before.

"Now let's get back to brass tacks and explain what's gonna happen next, got it?" Monokuma said, pointing a hand to his mouth as he waited for the rabble to die down. "You're all gonna introduce yourselves to each other, since you're all gonna be students. Once we get that little pleasantry out of the way, I can tell you guys the real reason why you're at this school. Got it?"

It was then that the hole in the floor returned and sent Monkouma back down. Kenji blinked. He had to introduce himself to everyone in the room? They had to talk to each other before they got the answers they wanted? Kenji almost wanted to be back in the locker, thinking this might all be a weird dream he'd wake up from. He walked over to the young man in the black waistcoat and red tie. He seemed to be an unintimidating fellow.

"Uhh, hey. How's it going? I'm Kenji Taisei." Kenji said, the white-haired man glaring and pushing up his glasses, he was… quite pale, and his hands were clad with a neat pair of gloves without a speck of dust on them.

"Did I look like I wanted to know what your name is? Don't bore me with your pleasantries." he said, Kenji immediately dropping his smile.

"Hey! We gotta get to know each other or else Monokuma won't tell us anything!" Kenji exclaimed, the young sighing and frowning at him.

"Fine. My name is Shiro Kiruma, now go bother someone else." He warned with his stern tone, Kenji just furrowed his brow at him.

 **Shiro Kiruma. Ultimate Politician**

"Harsh, ain't he?" came a voice behind Kenji. He turned to see another young man with long black hair tied into a ponytail, scratching at his goatee. He was wearing a leather jacket with a little logo of a badger hitting a cave wall with a pickaxe on it. His body was longer and kind of lanky looking compared to Kenji's average build.

"Yeah, is everyone a jerk here?" Kenji asked.

"Heh, don't think I am. I'm Rio Daisuke, the Ultimate Spelunker."

 **Rio Daisuke. Ultimate Spelunker.**

"Ultimate? Spelunker?" Kenji said, feeling like question marks were floating around his head talking to Rio. Rio let out a hearty laugh.

"Looks like you forgot quite a bit. A spelunker's someone explores caves for a living. And I'm the best! During one trip, I discovered the ancient Mayan city made of sapphire! I've even been on the cover of magazines! It's why I'm the Ultimate Spelunker!" Rio said, pointing his thumb to the little badger on his jacket.

"Okay, but why the _Ultimate_ Spelunker?" Kenji asked, Rio letting out another chuckle.

"Wow, you hit your head or something, buddy? Being an Ultimate is being one of the best in your field, especially when you're young and brimming with potential. I mean, how many teenagers do you know that find cities of sapphire? We're all Ultimates here. In fact, I wanted to make a good impression by looking up what students are gonna be showing up to school this year." Rio said, pulling out a crumpled piece of paper from under the folds of his red scarf.

"Wow, really? Which Ultimate am I? I'm Kenji Taisei." Kenji said, Rio running a finger along the paper.

"Good thing it's alphabetical order. K for Kenji. Ah, there we go. Ultimate Volunteer."

 **Kenji Taisei. Ultimate Volunteer.**

"I don't know, that sounds kind of underwhelming." Kenji commented, feeling some of his memories start to come back to him.

"Well, it doesn't matter if your ultimate skill is world peace, or eating spiders… an Ultimate is an ultimate, pal. Congrats." Rio said with a reassuring smile at Kenji, it was strange… Rio looked a bit older than most of the people there, or was that his goatee?

"I mean, I guess it makes sense…" Kenji said, starting to remember how often he volunteered to help people either at middle school or just when he was out of the house. He never thought much of it, it was just what he did. He helped people because it was the right thing to do. "...I hope there isn't an Ultimate Spider-Eater." Kenji said, a grimace forming as Rio checked the list.

"Nope, but there is the Ultimate Vampiress, Dahlia Kurotsuki." Rio said, pointing to a young woman clad in black and red silk, with billowing silver hair to her lower back and dark purple lipstick, she appeared to have fangs poking out of her bottom lips, and blood red eyes. She was talking with Akira, letting out a high-pitched, artificial laugh and showing off her fangs.

 **Dahlia Kurotsuki. Ultimate Vampiress.**

"Wait, there are vampires at this school!?" Kenji said, eyes wide with shock.

Rio casually waved a hand at her, whispering out the side of his mouth. "It's probably a stupid culture thing. She's probably just a real weirdo. And look at the police girl talkin' to her..." He said, pointing to Akira who looked about 15 different kinds of uncomfortable right now.

"Oh yeah, that's Akira." Kenji said.

"Hah! Now you're catching on! That's the Ultimate Police Cadet!" Rio replied.

 **Akira Kazue. Ultimate Police Cadet.**

"It helps she's pretty cute to look at, especially next to Bride of Dracula over there." Rio commented, but Kenji just casually rolled his eyes at him. "Anyway, I've been talking your ear off for the last few minutes. Here, take the list and introduce yourself! I've got the names memorized anyway, so I'll be fine!" he said, walking off.

"H-huh? W-wait! What's Shiro's Ultimate?" Kenji shouted.

"Ultimate Politician!" Rio said before heading to introduce himself to Akira and rescue her from Dahlia.

"Ultimate Politician? But… but he's an asshole!" Kenji said, lifting the paper up to his eyes and slowly sifted through the names of the class, wandering through the room as the other students continued to greet each other with... a lack of enthusiasm. He looked around the room and spotted a girl in a hoodie, opened up on the front to reveal a blue crop top, a black beanie with a little skull on the side of it poking out what the hood didn't cover. with tufts of her blueish grey sticking out of it. She had a skateboard tucked under her arm, meaning that this had to be…

 **Setsuki Yori. Ultimate Extreme Sports Star.**

"Uh, hey. I'm Kenji." he said, reaching a hand out.

"'Sup. Name's Setsuki Yori." she said, bumping her fist with his open hand. "Hey, you're stopping all the vibes from happening." She complained, backing her hand and keeping it in a fist. "C'mon… pound it, Kenji!"

Kenji shrugged and offered a fist, Setsuki bumping it and then pulling back and opening, making a "pshwooo" sound with her mouth. "Yeah.." she said with a cat-like smile of satisfaction on her face. Kenji chuckled. Seems like there were people he could get along with here besides Akira.

"So, you skateboard?" he asked.

"Skateboard ,snowboard, rollerskates, scooter. parasailing, ice skating, MM-X, rallycross, BASE jumping, surfboarding, free diving, flow riding, kite buggying, freestyle ice climb-" she said, counting off each one before Kenji cut her off.

"Wait, MM-X? What's MM-X?" he asked.

"Mixed-Martial… uh… X." Setsuki said, her eyes drifting to the side as she thought about the last part.

"You… you didn't finish the acronym?" Kenji.

"Look, it doesn't matter what the acronym is! No one's gonna watch me and go 'Hey, look at that acronym!' They're gonna see me and go 'Whoa! Setsuki Yori is the coolest, man!' Ya know?!" She said, though Kenji wasn't sure what she was even talking about, but he instantly knew how she felt about it.

"I think so… anyway, I should probably meet the others, right?"

"Right on. Seeya, Kenji." Setsuki said, shooting a finger gun at him. "Ba-bang."

Kenji headed off to find someone else to talk to, bumping into the woman with the nail bat. "Hey! What do you think you're doing! You wanna go, ya little shit?!" The woman said, turning to Kenji with a sneer. Despite her only being a few inches taller than him, the long black coat she was wearing and the glare she had made her feel huge. It helped she was still holding the nail bat in one of her hands.

She had billowing black hair, cold eyes, and both her arms were wrapped with hundreds of feet of bandages, with hints of blood near her knuckles, her sharp eyes were underneath a officer's cap.

"Wait wait wait!" Kenji pleaded, his hands up to make himself seem smaller and less threatening. "It was an accident! I just.. wanted to introduce myself. I'm Kenji, y'know? Don't kill me!"

"...Feh, wuss. I'm Reiko Ono! And if you forget that I'll throw you through the motherfuckin' wall!" she said, dropping her bat.

 **Reiko Ono. Ultimate School Delinquent.**

Kenji sat on the floor, shaking but also taking in all the f-bombs she dropped. Reiko swore like an R-rated movie, but he didn't feel like bringing it up for fear of agitating her further. He was suddenly hoisted up from the floor. "Stand tall, classmate! You're not gonna just lie on the floor and get yourself pinned, are you?" said a woman who stood taller than him and just an inch over Reiko.

"And who the fuck are you?" Reiko asked as Kenji turned to see his savior. A tall, rather busty woman with the brightest dyed orange, red and pink colored hair he's ever seen, she had tan skin and bright, courageous eyes. She was clad in a black tank-top and shorts, a white elbow pad on her right elbow. "Well, potty mouth, I'm Miho Ishii! The Strike Queen!" she said, gripping the edge of her shirt and stretching it to show the large white lettering of "MIHO ISHII. STRIKE QUEEN."

 **Miho Ishii. Ultimate Joshi. Strike Queen.**

"Strike Queen? The fuck does that mean?" Reiko asked, cocking her eyebrow slightly at her.

"I'm the best wrestler in all of STARSTRUCK, a two-time Queen of the Stars, legendary for her Heaven's Elbow!" Miho exclaimed, tapping her elbow. "And if you wanna fight, go right ahead, darling~" She said, with emphasis on the last word.

"Wrestling? You do that fuckin' fake shit?" Reiko said, snorting dismissively. Within seconds, Miho's cocky, energetic smile faded.

"You wanna say that again or do you like having all of your teeth, bitch?" Miho asked, Reiko locking heads with her, both growling deeply at each other. Kenji slowly backed away from them, not wanting to be anywhere near them lest a fight breaks out. He once again bumped into another classmate, letting out a high-pitched yelp.

"Ahh! I'm sorry! I wasn't looking, don't hurt me!" Kenji exclaimed, panicked as he turned to see a very feminine looking person for once, wearing a sweater and a necklace around their neck. They had black hair with three pink streaks on one side.

"Just be careful next time, alright?" He said with his obviously male voice, completely betraying the appearance he had, especially since he was shorter than Kenji. "Good… well, I don't really know what what time it is, but I'm Akami Sakiko." he said with a polite smile.

 **Akami Sakiko. Ultimate Makeup Artist.**

"According to this little paper Rio gave me… You're a makeup specialist?" Kenji asked, cross checking the paper with the feminine man in front of him.

"ARTIST." he said, nearly jabbing the wooden end of a brush an inch from Kenji's face. Kenji backed away slightly.

"Wh-whoa! Calm down, I was just reading off the paper!" Kenji.

"Makeup is the tapestry I lay my art upon! I will not have you or anyone else sully it with such soulless words as 'specialist' do you understand?" Akami asked, eyes cold with anger.

"Okay, got it Just stop pointing a brush at me!" Kenji said. Akami gently poked him on the nose with the brush.

"That will be your punishment, sinner." Akami said before walking off. "Good day to you, Kenji Taisei."

Kenji watched him walk off, bewildered. Was everyone at this school a lunatic? Sure, Akira, Rio and Setsuki were nice, but how long would that last? He walked off in a haze, bumping once again into someone. He looked to see the tallest, broadest, toughest looking dude yet. He gulped, hoping that he wouldn't notice him from his peripheral view. However, the young man turned his head to him.

"Oh no…" Kenji said under his breath. "H-hi, I'm Kenji Taisei." He said nervously. For some reason, his voice came out the highest pitch it's ever been out of sheer terror. The imposing figure with wild hair tamed under a bandana looked him over with blue eyes, smiling with pointed teeth that only made Kenji frightened further.

"Hey. I'm Haru Yamada. Nice to meet you, Kenji." Haru said with a small bow of the head.

 **Haru Yamada. Ultimate Dog Trainer.**

Kenji sighed in relief, fearing Haru would've buried him into the floor for looking at him wrong. He then heard a squeaky sound coming from Haru, seeing movement in his jacket pocket. Soon, the source of the noise poked out of Haru's pocket.

It was a small pomeranian dog with poofy white fur and black buttons for eyes. It was cutely panting as it started with affectionate eyes at Kenji.

"Oh! I almost forgot. The main star of the 'Yamada Show!' my dog, Kiko!" Haru exclaimed with a proud smile of his little poof ball dog.

 **Kiko. Ultimate Good Dog. Arf.**

"Aww! She's adorable!" Kenji said, reaching a hand out to pet her. Kiko put her head down, letting her new friend pet him.

"Yeah, she's a real sweetheart. I've trained her to do over one hundred commands." Haru said, Kiko letting out a happy bark. Kenji's heart warmed up, feeling much better than he had before. "Feeling better?"

"Much better. Thanks, Haru. Thanks Kiko." Kenji said with a big smile.

"Arf." Kiko barked very quietly.

"You're welcome, Kenji. Nothing like a smiling doggy to help put people in a good mood." Haru said, leading Kiko back to his pocket. "I'm gonna try with that kid at the door." he said, walking toward Yukiji. Kenji went to find someone new to talk to. This time, someone bumped into Kenji.

"Whoa! Oof!" she said as she hit the floor.

"Oh, sorry. Didn't see you there. Need some help?"

"You WANTED TO SAY THAT, DIDN'T YOU!?" She said, hopping back onto her feet and pumping both of her fists. She was… quite a clash of colors, her long pink hair having occasional braids in it, and matching pink eyes. She was wearing a basketball jersey with the number 1 on it, with the name 'Okamoto' on it.

"No… I just actually didn't see you." Kenji said, the anger from the girls face subsiding somewhat.

"Okay okay okay okay okay okay okay… calm now." She replied, taking a deep breath and looking up at him. "Sorry, I get a little touchy about my height. I'm Hana Okamoto." she said.

 **Hana Okamoto. Ultimate Basketball Star.**

"Weirdly, you might be one of the people I actually remember." Kenji said, gently rubbing underneath his chin as he looked at her. "You're like… one of the best basketball players in Japan, despite still being in high school."

"Hell yeah! It's all about those ups, boy! I got the mad ups! What do you say to that?!"" Hana said excitedly.

"Good… good ups?" Kenji said, not sure what to say to that.

"Yeah! Get dunked!" Hana said, pumping her fist in the air. Another young woman chuckled, walking over to them.

"Glad I'm not the only one who got dunked." she said, Kenji getting a good look at her. She had blonde hair tied in a ponytail and blue eyes covered by plastic glasses. She had a warm, friendly smile on her face as she offered Kenji a hand, clad in a leather work glove. Just looking at her outfit of the glasses, glove, smock and thick brown leather boots she must be…

 **Emi Nakayama, Ultimate Carpenter.**

"I'm Emi. Emi Nakayama. You need it? I'll make it." she said, Kenji shaking her hand.

"Nice to meet you, Emi. I'm Kenji Taisei." Kenji said, glad that his sweaty palms were covered up by the glove. 'Okay, I thought Akira was cute, but wow…' he thought to himself, Emi just smiling to him.

"Likewise… are you okay? You're… still shaking my hand." Emi said, Kenji quickly pulling his hand away. Unfortunately, he still had her hand in his and pulled her ontop of him, sending them both to the floor.

"Ahhh! I-I'm sorry! I didn't mean to-" Kenji sputtered out as Emi got up, giggling and picking up her fallen glasses and putting them back on.

"A bit forward, don't you think, Kenji?" Emi said as she got off, playfully winking at him. Kenji turned beet red, Hana sneaking up to his ear.

"Get dunked!" she whispered, running off and laughing, Kenji turning and looking back at Hana, wondering what that was and why she did that. As he got off, he saw Emi walking off, giving him a friendly wave. He waved back, thoroughly embarrassed as he looked for the last few people he hadn't met yet. There were two boys and one girl, opting for the boy with the blonde faux hawk as his hair was more normal compared to the girl's long purple hair and the other boy's green hair that looked to be made of spikes.

"Hey, I'm Kenji Taisei." he said, getting an easy handshake with this classmate, though his faux hawk and his offensively pastel popped collar jacket did not make it easy to look at him.

"Hello~ Kenji Tasei! My name is 'Bam' Tanaka!" he said with a loud baritone.

 **Bam Tanaka. Ultimate Sports Commentator.**

"Do you always talk like that?" Kenji asked, Bam nodding enthusiastically.

"Yes! As a commentator, I need to maintain a voice of perfect composure and volume! I can't miss a single rhythm or I won't be able to perform at my best level!" Bam nearly shouted with a grin.

"Well, I guess, but maybe you could turn it down…?" Kenji asked hopefully.

"Absolutely not! I can't lose this volume or I may never get it back!" Bam shouted, getting louder with each sentence.

"O-okay… nice to meet you, Bam. I'm gonna go talk to the spikey-haired kid." Kenji said, needing to get out of here with his hearing intact.

"Very well! I shall go and speak with the woman with the baseball bat!" Bam said, volume rising once more.

"Good luck with that…" Kenji said in a hushed tone before walking over to the somewhat chubby boy with a massive net of green spikes wearing two long coats overtop the other, a small black leather card case clipped to his belt. He was talking to the purple haired girl, or trying to, showing her various colorful cards and explaining the to her. However, she seemed uninterested in what he had to say.

"I've told you my name, so why do you not tell me yours? I will tell you once again, my name is Yukata Watanabe, will you accept my challenge to a duel!?"

 **Yukata Watanabe. Ultimate Card Game Player.**

The woman with purple hair was standing against the wall, both of her hands tucked into the pockets of the tuxedo she was wearing, with a distinct purple colored tie that matched her hair, her eyes were closed, as if she was completely ignoring him.

"Airi Kudo." She replied with a dead, disinterested sounding voice.

 **Airi Kudo. Ultimate ?**

"Hey, you two. Uhm… I'm Kenji. Are you guys busy with something?" Kenji asked, walking between the two of them and looking at Yukata's flustered expression.

"FINALLY someone who actually introduced themself to me, this Airi lady has been ignoring me since I got out of the locker with her…" He said, looking at the ground.

Suddenly, a whirring sound caught the ears of everyone, turning their attention back to the center as Monokuma leaped out of the hole once again.

"Fiiiiinnally. That took FOREVER! So how about this… Let's get the party started, people. Okay?" Monokuma asked, crossing both of his arms over his chest as the group slowly coalesced to see what he has to say.


	2. Prologue: Part 2

Prologue - Part 2: First Admission to Enoshima University

The group finally finished their greetings at Monokuma gathered everyone's attention, all standing to one side of him so he wouldn't have to turn his head to address all of them. Kenji slowly met back up with Akira so they could stand beside each other and try to grasp the situation a little better.

"Now, isn't everyone happy they've gotten a little more acquainted with one another? Friendship is such a beautiful thing…" He said, pretending to wipe a tear from one of his fake eyes.

"So, what the fuck are we doing he-" Reiko began to complain, but Monokuma swiftly cut her off by talking over her.

"Before one of you decide to smart off to me again, I guess I'll explain the circumstances you all find yourselves in." Monokuma said, softly clearing his throat before he began his speech. "It would be absolutely wonderfulriffic if you all get more familiar with each other, since for the foreseeable future… the group in front of you will be the only company keep." Monokuma announced, murmuring coming from the small crowd of students as he continued.

"Because I want to introduce you all to the wonderful, climactic, dramatic, exciting, prosperous, fantastic daily life at the first ever **Killing Game University!** " He said with an excited fist pump, even going for a small hop into the air.

"Did… he just say 'killing game' Akira?" Kenji leaned over to his acquaintance, but she was too focused on what he was going to say next to reply right away.

"I bet some of you are gonna be like 'What the eff is killing game university supposed to mean?' But…. please. This is exposition, and daddy Monokuma will explain everything you need to know." He said, mocking Reiko's gruffer sounding voice, causing Reiko to bite her lower lip out of annoyance and anger.

"From here on, all 16 of you will be trapped inside this school. Every day, night, afternoon, birthday, breakfast, lunch and dinner will be held inside this school. This is your life now, got it?" Monokuma continued, which made Kenji's hair stand on the back of his neck.

"So we all got kidnapped and forced to stay in this school?" Setsuki asked, spinning the a skateboard wheel while she talked to keep herself from getting too nervous.

"Well if I got into the circumstances of how you guys got to this school, that would be spoilers. So…. Eh close enough, Setsuki." Monomuka said, gently gesturing a hand to her before getting back to the task at hand.

"So, what does being trapped here entail? It means that there's only one way I will let you leave." He said, reaching behind his back and pulling out a remote.

"You must successfully commit **murder.** Only then will I allow you to graduate from this school." He said, his playful voice dropping for a bit for something a bit more serious. The confusion turned the quiet hall into a room full of volume, confused and exasperated gasps, exclamations of 'What?' 'Why?' and a minimum of one instance of the words 'The fuck?'

"Now… I could stay here for all the whos n' whats n' whys… But I think it would be easier if I gave you all one of these!" He said, pushing the button he was holding. A large amount of tablets fell from the ceiling, hitting some of the students on the head, others landing on the floor with a loud crack.

"I like to call these Monopads! Each one of you will get one! When you boot it up, it should have your name on it. Don't trade em, don't break em, because you only get one, kay?" He finished on one more comment. "The killing game has begun, how this plays out is up to all of you, have fun~" Before hopping back into the hole he came from, leaving a room full of confused students.

Kenji bent down, since his tablet just missed his head, scooping it off of the floor and pushing the small button on the side to turn it on.

 **Kenji Taisei**

The Monopad loaded up to a main screen with several options available. A clock, a map of the current building they were in, along with the position of the last room each student was seen in. A very strange option on the menu was 'School Regulations.' He selected the option, each rule taking up the screen, with a button to sift between each regulation.

#1: Students are required to cohabitate together in the facility for the foreseeable future.

#2: If and when a murder in the university is committed, a class trial will be conducted. Participation for this trial is mandatory for all living students.

#3: If the killer (Referred to as 'The Blackened' from this point on) is identified and voted guilty in the class trial, they will be subject to **punishment.**

#4: If the Blackened is either misidentified, or cannot be identified during the class trial, all the students who are not the Blackened will be punished instead.

#5: If the Blackened survives the class trial for the murder they committed, they will graduate from the killing game and will be allowed to enter the outside world.

#6: The innocent students, also known at The Spotless will continue to hold class trials, the trials will stop if two spotless remain.  
#7: Nighttime is between the hours of 10:00 PM and 7:00 AM, certain facilities such as the cafeteria and the gymnasium will be locked until morning.

#8: Violence against Dean Monokuma is strictly prohibited and will be severely punished (Especially if it's Reiko)

#9: Monokuma is not allowed to participate, or be an accomplice to any of the murders, Class trials will ALWAYS have a Blackened, and ALWAYS have a victim.

#10: Monopads are the key to your survival in the academy. Do not dispose of, or damage them.

#11: A body will count as discovered when 3 students besides the Blackened **witness** the body.

#12: The students are free to explore the academy as they see fit, but are not allowed to break any locks that another student hasn't locked themselves.

#13: Monokuma can add new regulations when he deems it necessary.

The rules he read seemed consistent, but… still absurd to him. He looked over to his friend, Akira, who was quietly scrolling through each of the rules herself with a blank look on her face. Was this real?

"I guess it's true, this really is a killing game... " Emi spoke quietly to break up the noise. Shiro looked at her and sighed, putting his tablet into his coat pocket as he slowly turned to the rest of the students.

"According to regulation 12, we should explore the school uninhibited. Perhaps we could find a place where we can escape." he spoke, his voice going over the crowd clearly. "To that end, you shall be divided into groups. Agreed?" he asked, the group murmuring to each other before Reiko spoke up.

"Hey! Who the fuck said you were the leader?" she shouted, Shiro scowling.

"I'm the leader because I -AM- a leader. If you don't have a better idea then kindly shut up and acquiesce to my ideas." Shiro said, pushing up his glasses. 

"He does have a point. We'll cover more ground if we go in groups." Emi said in agreement. The others were not enthused about Shiro's declaration of leadership, but agreed that he had the right idea. Kenji looked at the crowd, seeing Airi slip away from the crowd and leaving the main hall.

"Now then, group A shall be…." He said, nearly pointing to random people in the crowd, like he really had no preference as to who goes where. "Taisei, Kazue, Chimon and… Ono." he said, a smirk slowly forming as he pointed to Reiko. "There are three major floors to this complex according to the map we have, so your task is to investigate the third floor."

"Oh, FUCK that noise! You're just doin' this to piss me off, ya prick!" Reiko shouted and ran for Shiro, only for Miho to grab her at the waist.

"Calm down or I will suplex you!" she warned Reiko, lifting her by the lapel of her leather coat, slightly off of her feet. Reiko just gripped her wrist tightly enough for veins to form on her hand.

"Let go of me, bitch! I will put nails in your fuckin' head!" Reiko snarled out. Miho spit on the ground before glaring at her.

"And if you do that, you're fucking dead. Remember the rule about class trials? Now quit acting like a scared puppy and do something useful for once." Miho shot back, which Reiko met with silence. She dropped her bat to her side once more, Miho setting her down.

"Good, now that we have that out of the way. Group B will be Ishii, Yori, Okamoto and Takahashi. You will travel to the second floor." Shiro said, Setsuki and Hana high-fiving in the crowd before running up to meet with Miho. "Groups C and D will be smaller groups of three. Group C will be Yamada, Nakayama and Daisuke. They will investigate the eastern half of the ground floor." he declared, getting little argument from the trio.

"And Group D will be Watanabe, Sakiko and Kurotsuki. They will cover the western sections of the ground floor. Any questions?" Shiro said, Akira raising her hand. "Kazue, you may speak."

"What about you and Airi? Wouldn't four groups of four be better?" she asked.

"Kudo has chosen to move on her own and I will be investigating the University library. Besides, I've been in contact with you dregs for far too long and would rather be alone. Now then, I will be searching through the library on the third floor if anyone needs me." Shiro said, walking through the crowd and stopping at the door.. "Please, don't need me. We'll report what we've learned in the main hall after 2 hours." he advised before going through the door.

Everything soon came together into their groups, Yukiji walking over to Akira and Kenji. "So, where are we going first?" he asked. Kenji pulled up the map on his Monopad.

"The weird part is, all the rooms don't have names on them, they're just… pictures of stuff. One's a hammer, another is a book." Kenji stated, scrolling the map around. "Maybe they want us to go there to see what is really is."

"Well, the book might be the library, so we can forget about going there… how about the hammer?" Akira said, Reiko soon joining up with the three.

"Let's get this fuckin' over with, then!" she exclaimed, Yukiji moving closer to Akira and further from the fired-up Reiko.

"She's very loud." Yukiji quietly complained to Akira, who nodded and lightly took a step forward, leading the group back to the staircase.

"Alright everyone, single file, no shoving." she said, turning around and guiding her three classmates up the staircase. Reiko checked Akira into the rail as she passed, grumbling as she walked up the staircase to the third floor.

Kenji watched as Group B followed them, but they dispersed around the second floor, so they continued up to the third one before stopping at the top. There was a hallway with signage stating the direction of each room.

One was a sign pointing left, stating Library, Class 3-A and 3-B. To the right was Workshop, Exercise Room, and Janitor's closet, along with class 3-C. "So, we're going right then." Kenji said, leading the group along the hall and into the workshop first. Inside were a series of workbenches, lined four by four with toolboxes on top of each. The walls were lined with wrenches and hammers of various sizes, along with large plastic drawers full of various nuts, bolts, and pulleys. "Looks normal enough. Think there's a bench for each of us." Kenji observed.

"Okay, so now we've got the Janitor's closet." Akira said, pointing to the Mop icon on her map. They went to the Janitor's closet, finding a tight space with cleaning product and supplies along several shelves, a mop and bucket in the center with boxes of trash bags on the shelf behind it. Nothing out of the ordinary. Next to the closet was a room marked with a trash bag. Inside there was a large steel chute and rubber gloves on the wall. "Hm, looks to be a trash chute. Must be here so it's easier to bring down trash from the third floor." Kenji stated, looking into it.

Yukiji gently tucked his hands into his pockets, leaning over to look at it. "Is it bad I kind of wanna ride down it?" He commented. But Akira just quietly shook her head at that.

"It's probably all trash on the bottom, It would be pretty gross." She replied, Yukiji immediately sulking at losing his opportunity to slide.

They had one more room to investigate, the Exercise Room. It was probably the largest room on this floor, with several pieces of equipment inside; treadmills, weights, exercise balls, yoga mats, punching bags for power and speed, vending machines full of snacks and water and fresh towels. On the walls were various posters of Monokuma with motivational words slapped on in large, obnoxious fonts. "Hah! My kind of fuckin' place!" Reiko said with a smile as everyone looked over the machines.

"Everything looks to be normal. Maybe this was just a joke. Like a really elaborate prank." Kenji mused. The only thing common in the rooms was that the windows were barred shut with the same metal sheets that had covered the classroom. Yukiji walked over to the vending machine and tried to put yen into it.

"Hm? The vending machine isn't taking my yen…" Yukiji said, Reiko walking over to it.

"Oh yeah? Well, let's see if it takes nails!" she said, drawing back her bat and ready to swing.

"A-hem~ I wouldn't do that if I were you!" Monokuma said, appearing in the exercise room without any warning, startling everyone.

"Where the fuck did you come from, Bear?!" Reiko exclaimed in shock.

"See now, these vending machines are specially crafted to only accept… Monocoins! Ta-daaaaa~" Monokuma exclaimed, showing a shining copper coin emblazoned with his face on it. "All students get 20 Monocoins to start, which you keep in these Monopouches!" he said, pulling up a small black-and-white pouch modeled with his face on it.

"...Does everything you have need the word "Mono" in front of it?" Kenji asked.

"It's called branding, kiddo! It's how we keep Enoshima University running! Now then, you can spend Monocoins at the vending machines, laundry machines and the MonoMono machine in the entrance hall for special prizes! There's coins scattered all around the school and you'll all be rewarded after each class trial with additional Monocoins!" Monokuma explained, tossing pouches to the four students in front of him.

"By the way, your dorm rooms are all on the second floor. I marked everyone's faces on each of them so you'll know where to stay. By the way, if you break that vending machine, I ain't fixing it!" He said, before slipping into a wall somewhere. Everyone blinked in confusion, Yukiji putting a Monocoin into the machine and getting a KitKat out of it.

"So, all we've got left is the classrooms. Might not be much there, but we got plenty of time." Akira sid, the group leaving the gym and going through all the classrooms. Searching through the desks found papers, pencils, notebooks and Monocoins. Akira took one of the notebooks, before grabbing a pen and tucking it underneath her arm. Otherwise it was the same boarded windows, TV monitors and moving cameras as with every room. Reiko became bored with the thorough examination, storming off from the group and heading for the library.

"Huh? W-wait! Reiko!" Kenji said, chasing after her. Reiko kicked at the door as hard as she could.

"Hey Shiro! The third floor's done! Can we get going?!" Reiko demanded, kicking harder and harder at the door. She reared back for another kick only for the door to swing open, Reiko falling through the doorway as she kicked

"Did you really have to kick the door?" Airi asked, holding the door with a book in her other hand. Her eyes were glued to the book as Reiko pulled herself up.

"Fuck you…" she muttered, walking over to Shiro and spinning the swivel chair he sat in to face her. "Hey Shiro! Are you deaf?! I said we fuckin' finished the third floor! Get your ass out of the chair!" she shouted, Shiro glaring back at her. Kenji stood next to Airi, watching the intense staring contest in front of them.

"So… you and Shiro have been in the library together?" Kenji asked.

"We've been in library, but not together. I was conducting my own research and stopped here to read and relax." Airi said.

"Wait, how did you get here without us seeing you?" Kenji said, never seeing her in the third floor hall during their search.

"Guess it'd be because I'm the Ultimate Lucky Student." Airi said, still sounding strangely tired.

 **Airi Kudo. Ultimate Lucky Student**

"That's lucky?" Kenji asked.

"When you're trying to avoid people, I'd call that very lucky." Airi replied. Kenji simply shrugged and turned back to Reiko and Shiro, Shiro finally shutting his book and standing up.

"Fine. If you didn't find a way out, then I don't need you. Do whatever you want until the meet-up." Shiro said, walking around Reiko and walking off.

"...Oh wow, I forgot we were looking for a way out of here." Kenji said, feeling immensely embarrassed to have forgotten the entire point of the groups.

"Are you fuckin' with me Kenji?! The whole time we were looking for a way out, you were just looking at the rooms?!" Reiko screamed at him, getting right in his face and backing him into the wall. Kenji sighing and pinching the bridge of his nose.

"I forgot, okay? Do you know how much stuff you can forget in a lifetime? Get off my case…" he complained to the angry woman made entirely of anger. She just sneered, rolling her eyes.

"30 minutes after being told we're in a murder game and dipshit's all 'OOH, TREADMILLS!' Jesus Christ, we're so fucked in here." she muttered, walking off. Akira entered the library with Yukiji in tow.

"There you are, Kenji! I got good news!" Akira said with a triumphant smile.

"You found a way out?" Kenji asked, eyes sparking with hope.

"...Sorry no. But I did make an inventory of all the classrooms, the closet, workshop and exercise room!" Akira said, holding up her notebook. She had good penmanship, but all the words were tiny, and Kenji was just confused by her spending this whole time taking inventory.

"...Why would you take an inventory of all the stuff in the rooms?" Kenji inquired.

"It's all about procedure, Kenji. You gotta keep things organized and accounted for future investigations! It'll make stuff easier." She exclaimed with the dorkiest smile plastered on her face.

"You're getting way too excited about this, Akira." he said, Akira bopping Kenji with her notebook.

"Procedure!" she said, Kenji rubbing his forehead. Now then, I need to get all these books written down in alphanumeric order! The Dewey decimal system is for chumps. C'mon, Yukiji. You can hold the books while I write them down!" Akira said enthusiastically, running in with Yukiji following her, expression unchanged.

"Well, have fun… so, Airi, you wanna help them-" Kenji said to dead silence, Airi was already across the room, not even looking at him anymore. Kenji sighed, heading down to the second floor. He walked through seeing rooms marked with a syringe, a VHS tape and blue and pink toilets. Then he saw small cartoonish versions of everyone's faces along a long hallway, boys of the left and girls on the right.

"Those must be the dorms. Guess it would be nice to check out how we're sleeping here." Kenji said, walking through the halls on the way to his dorm when he suddenly slipped on something on the floor, his eyes too focused on his Monopad to notice until he was already falling. He then landed on something… or rather someone.

"Ahh!"

"Oof! Ow… ack! Emi! I-I'm sorry!" Kenji said as he scrambled to get off her. Emi giggled and sat herself up.

"We have got to stop landing on each other, Kenji." she said, adjusting her protective glasses. "Sorry about the mess on the floor. I was gonna kick off my boots and relax, but Hana pointed out that one of the rooms wouldn't open so I grabbed my tools and got to work opening it." she explained, waving her hand over an assortment of small tools taken out of a blue toolbox, including the screwdriver Kenji tripped on.

"In the hallway?" Kenji asked, head tilted in bewilderment.

"Well, I'm not gonna be able to break it open from my dorm room, am I?" Emi said, giggling that same sweet giggle. Her laugh was like music to Kenji and her smile always made him just a little weak in the knees.

"W-well, no. But why this room? I mean, isn't there a regulation against breaking into other student's dorms?" Kenji asked, double-checking his Monopad.

"That's the thing, though. This is the only dorm room without anyone's face on it. This isn't a student dorm and none of our Monopasses worked on it." Emi explained, Kenji flipping back from the Regulations to the Map screen. Emi wasn't lying, the dorm was listed on the map but there wasn't a face on there. This was an empty dorm room.

"Well, I dunno know if you should be messing with it. I mean, if Monokuma finds out about-" Kenji began, Monokuma popping between them.

"If Monokuma finds out about what?" the bear asked, feigning curiosity. Kenji and Emi jumped back in surprise. How did Monokuma keep appearing without warning?

"Ahh! Wh-where did you come from?!" Emi asked, Monokuma picking up a screwdriver off the floor. "Hey! Put that down!" she exclaimed, reaching for it.

"Hmmm? What's thiiis?" Monokuma said, looking over the screwdriver. "Emi Nakayama, were you trying to get into the 17th dorm room?" he asked, jabbing the screwdriver close to her face.

"Ahh! W-wait! I can explain!" Emi said, shaking slightly as Monokuma drew the screwdriver closer to her eye.

"Need I remind you that students are not allowed to break any locks that a student hasn't locked themselves as per Regulation #12 of Enoshima University!" Monokuma threatened, Kenji grabbing Monokuma's wrist. However, this startled Dean Monokuma, making him swing around and jab the tip of the screwdriver into Kenji's palm. "Monokuma Flying Kick!" he called out, kicking Kenji onto the floor.

"Ahh! Kenji!" Emi cried out, running to help him while Monokuma let out a hearty guffaw.

"Ahhhhahahahaha~ You're not the sharpest tool in the box, are you Kenji? You're really going to stick your neck out for a girl who broke University Regulations? Thinkin' with your lower head's a quick way to die, Kenji~" Monokuma taunted.

"Anh! Look, she didn't want to break the door, I.. I asked her to do it! I was curious!" Kenji lied, sucking in the pain in his hand, drips of his blood hitting the checker patterned floor.

"Oh? Well, that doesn't change much…" Monokuma mumbled, turning his back to them for a bit before turning back around. "But I think you've been punished enough! Don't want the first death in this school to be my fault, y'know!" he said, letting out another manic laugh.

"D-death?" Kenji said, gulping slightly.

"Jeez, does anyone know what the hell death is? Everyone's been lollygaggin' around since I announced it. I want some grrrravitas~ Drama! Action! Romance! Betrayal! Fear! You guys are GONNA die. Act like it, alright?" Monokuma groused before disappearing again.

Emi forced Kenji to his feet. "Emi… I hit my head on the way here so I don't remember much. Do you have any idea at all who could have trapped us here?" he asked, Emi shaking her head.

"No, but I don't think that's important right now, Kenji! We gotta get you to the nurse's office!" Emi said, panic in her voice as she dragged Kenji through the hall. Within no time, Emi had forced out the screwdriver, putting pressure on Keni's hand to keep blood from spilling out all over the floor, covering the palm with gauze and wrapping it into a knot to keep it attached to his hand.

"Man, if I die first of Tetanus I'll be pissed." Kenji said.

"You had your shot, right?" Emi asked, Kenji having to pause and think.

"...I don't remember, actually." he said sheepishly, Emi giggling before her smile dropped again.

"Kenji, look, you didn't have to stick up for me. That was dangerous, lying to Monokuma like that. She said, guilt in her voice.

"Hey, I don't care what Monokuma says. In this situation, we're all friends here. I'll cover for any of you guys if you ever need it. Except Shiro, probably…" Kenji said, Emi laughing again.

"Ha ha! Now I see what Rio was saying about you being the Ultimate Volunteer. You need anything to pay you back?" she asked. Kenji began to think, before turning to face her.

"Honestly… All the stuff I've done was for a 'thank you.' I'm not really money driven, I guess I just like feeling appreciated." Kenji said.

"I could give you a hundred, thousand thanks! That's not enough! I owe you my life! What can I -do- for you, Kenji!" Emi said, eyes firey with determination. The gears turned faster in Kenji's head, causing him to stumble a bit before he came up with something.

"Uh.. umm… well, maybe you could work on getting the metal off the windows!" he blurted out, Emi's determined look dropping.

"That's a bit out of my element, Kenji. The metal over the windows are cold rolled, corrugated high carbon count heat treated stainless steel, secured with a TIG weld and rivets every inch. I could only get through those if I had my plasma cutter." She explained, but Kenji just had a blank stare.

"What?"

"...I can't cut metal with a handsaw, Kenji! I'd need a plasma cutter!" Emi said, a hint of exasperation in her voice. However, a small spark went off in Kenji's head.

"Wait, I think there is a plasma cutter in the school!" Kenji exclaimed, Emi looking at him quizzically.

"Y-yeah! Akira wrote down everything in the third floor! There's a plasma cutter in the workshop!" Kenji said, Emi wrapping her arms around him.

"Ahhhh! You're the best, Kenji!" she cried, Kenji burning up before Emi pulled herself off. "I'll grab it and get those windows free in no time! Seeya!" Emi said cheerfully, waving goodbye as she rushed out of the nurse's office. Kenji took some time for his heart to stop racing before jumping off the futon and heading downstairs to wait for the rest of the people to finish their search.


	3. Chapter 1: Daily Life 1

Kenji slowly made his way back down to the stairs, quietly nursing his wound as he waited for other people to finish their search. The pain surged slowly, before quietly fading to a dull ache. The gauze wasn't put on in particularly the best way, so his blood was starting to seeping into his bandage.

The first people to meet up with him was group D. Dahlia, Yukata, and Akami. "Hey, Kenji." Akami said, casually waving at him as he re-entered the room to start their meeting.

Kenji waved back. "Hi guys." He said with a smile, though he was unconsciously waving his wounded hand, which made the three of them take notice.

"What happened to your hand?" Yukata asked, Kenji inspecting his wound as everyone else noticed. "Did you get into a fight, or anything?" He continued, Kenji furrowed his brow a bit, crossing his arms over his chest.

"I pissed off Monokuma… tried to break a lock and he didn't take kindly to that." Kenji explained, Yukata looking a bit confused by that.

"You literally just read that you weren't supposed to do that, right?" Yukata mentioned, which made Kenji roll his eyes as he slowly paced in front of them.

"Yes. I know I wasn't supposed to do that. I just… didn't know who locked it, so I tried anyway using some of the tools from upstairs." Kenji replied, as group C approached next.

Haru and Rio approached next, both with a smile on their faces. "We're done exploring our half of the bottom floor! It's a lot bigger of a building than I thought." Rio said, opening his mouth to try and explain, before Haru cut him off.

"Well, we should wait until everyone gets here, so we don't have to repeat ourselves. Isn't that right, Kiko?" he asked his little dog, who was perched on his shoulder like a parrot. She quietly started panting, giving a cute bark in response.

"You guys see Emi by the way? She sorta ran off while me and Rio were exploring the gymnasium." Haru mentioned, tilting his head away from his dog as she casually scratched her own ear.

"As soon as she heard from me there was a workshop on the third floor, she bolted up to get some more tools. She should be back soon." Kenji explained, getting a nod from the two men of the C team. Kenji then noticed Dahlia was bent down, head tilted upward toward his hand. "...Can I help you?" he asked.

"Oh dear~ your wound appears to be dripping blood… the sweet essence of mortal life just draining from you and spilling to the floor. Such a waste of crimson panacea. A shame…" Dahlia said, speaking with a strained British accent, her voice an unsettling mixture of sensual and refined. She took her hand in his, letting out a soft moan of ecstasy before taking a bloodstained hand away, licking the blood off her fingers.

"AHHH! Don't do that ever!" Kenji said, thoroughly creeped out.

"Yeah, she was doing that when I got a paper cut off one of my cards." Yukata said, clearly still uncomfortable since he was pretty pale in the face.

"Your mortal coil is weak. The taste of your essence tells me you have a weak ambition, unbefitting of one of my thralls. Away with you!" she stated, shoving Kenji off with one of her hands with unnecessary dramatics. Kenji fell back slightly, still standing on his feet.

"...Does Monokuma sell restraining orders?" Kenji asked, Yukata simply shrugging.

"Tell me, young Taisei. Kiruma had sent you with Yukiji. Do you know where he could possibly be?" she asked, but Kenji was still feeling a tingling in his spine.

"H-he's with Akira. Apparently she wants to.., catalogue books or something." Kenji explained, Dahlia nodded, smiling a fanged smile.

"Yes, I see. So Kazue and Yukiji shall be joining us soon. I shall await his arrival." Dahlia declared, walking away from Kenji and Yukata, lifting part of her dress, exposing her leg as she walked faster toward the staircase. Kenji looked away, his eyes drawn to the marble statue in front of him. It had Monokuma with his arms folded, but there was another figure behind him. It was a woman, with a tall, hourglass figure and long hair tied in huge pigtails on each side of her head, clipped with Monokuma heads. She was dressed in a cardigan and dress shirt, both unbutton with a tie dropping down under her chest, a mini skirt and platform-heeled boots. The crafter also took care to give the woman long nails

Kenji felt something in the back of his head when he looked at the statue, but the strange thing was he wasn't sure what he felt, just that he felt it. He looked down at the statue's plaque. **University Founder Junko Enoshima and Monokuma.**

"The founder is… actually pretty young. Weird." Kenji said. "She looks to be my age."

"She's probably no longer that young. Enoshima University has been around for over twenty years. She would be in her 30's or 40's by now." Akami continued. "I have to admit the marble work is exquisite, though~ You can see the cloth slightly hanging from parts of her body, to sculpt that must have taken like… the Ultimate Sculptor." he said, admiring the craft for a bit.

"So, she founded this place when she was our age?" Kenji asked.

"It would seem so. Child prodigy and world class fashion model Junko Enoshima founded Enoshima University as a proving ground for some of the world's greatest prospects, regardless of economic or social status." Airi said as she suddenly appeared, hands tensed tightly. "A believer in the pinnacle of human ability, she created the Ultimates System, crowning herself the Ultimate Fashionista."

"Whoa… that's something else…" Kenji said, before suddenly hearing a sound coming from the sairs. He turned to see Setsuki grinding down the rail, sparks coming from the axels grinding against the metal handrail.

"Awwwwwwwwwwwwwwww yeaaaaaaaah!" She exclaimed, the sound rattling the ears of Kenji to the point he instinctively covered them to protect his eardrums. She kickflipped the board as she came off the rail, landing perfectly on the board and coming to a stop at the Junko statue, startling Dahlia.

"You uncouth wench! You will be my first feeding when night comes upon us!" Dahlia screeched, Setsuki shrugging as she flipped her skateboard into her hand.

"Whatever, Elvira." Setuski said, palming her off before turning to Kenji. "Keeeeeen. What's up!" she said, throwing up her hand. "My hype's going cold! High-five while I'm hot!"

Kenji, baffled, goes for the high-five, letting out a yelp of pain. "OW! That was the bad hand! Why did I do that?!" Kenji cried out, seething in pain.

"Man, you got hurt? Here, lemme help." Setsuki said, stomping down hard on his foot.

"OW! MY FOOT! WHY DID YOU-" Kenji shouted, hopping on one foot in pain.

"Took your mind of your hand. Momma Yori would always step on my toes if I scraped an ankle while shredding. Worked like a charm." Setsuki said cheerfully.

"WHY?! DAMN IT!" Kenji shouted. There came the beat of footsteps as the rest of Setsuki's team made it down.

"And Miho Ishii has lost the race down to the meeting place! What a tragedy, sports fans!" Bam exclaimed, Hana jumping for joy.

"Get dunked, Miho! I beat you!" she said boastfully.

"You still lost to Setsuki, ya know." Miho said with a chuckle.

"Yeah, but she cheated, so I win! Get dunked!" Hana said.

"How many times has she said that?" Kenji asked.

"How many times has Reiko used foul language?" Miho joked, getting a laugh out of Kenji.

"I FUCKING HEARD THAT!" Reiko shouted as she jumped the rail, going right for Miho. "You wanna FUCKING go, ya little shit?!" Reiko growled, stomping each step of the way and spinning her bat in her hand until Akami stood in front of her.

"We've done this already, shoo!" he said, whisking her with his makeup brush and getting an annoyed reaction out of her. "You heard me, She-bear. Chill out and let's talk about what we've found already." Akami said, with some barbs in his voice.

"You wanna know what we found? We found dick! We found dick because Kenji was busy looking at mops n playing hopscotch with his cop friend, instead of looking for an exit!" Reiko said with acid in her voice, pointing her bat at Kenji, more to point him out.

"The whole school is locked down, Reiko." Emi said as she descended the stairs. "Kenji helped me find some tools to break through the windows… but no luck. Monokuma's craftier than I thought he was." she added, standing beside Kenji when she was finished walking.

Reiko dropped her bat, sighing in annoyance. "Fucking bear…"

Emi leaned in to Kenji, putting a hand over her mouth. "I have something I wanna show you after the meeting. Meet me at the workshop." Emi whispered. Kenji noedding back to her as they saw Akira and Yukiji make their way down the stairs.

"Ah, Officer Kazue… Yukiji…" Dahlia said, with a bow, a hint of sweetness in her voice as she said Yukiji's name. "You grace us with your presence. Is the library properly organized? I wish to retire there after our convocation."

"Good luck, Shiro went back in after we left. It makes me sad. I just got done arranging all the books and he's gonna mess them up again…" Akira said with a frown. She went to meet back up with Kenji, Dahlia offering a hand to Yukiji, who simply walked past her, a shoulder accidentally brushing her side. Dahlia smiled, shuddering a bit before following him.

"Hey Kenji. Whoa, what happened to your hand? Did Reiko try to eat you?" Akira said, looking over the loosely held bandages on his hand.

"Oh no, Monokuma hit him with a screwdriver whe he tried to protect me. It was so brave of him." Emi said.

"You make it sound like I was some knight in shining armor or something. I just kind of grabbed him and he stabbed me." Kenji admitted, feeling even dumber saying it out loud.

"It was brave of you. Monokuma would've killed me if you hadn't stepped in. Ehehehe, you kinda are my knight in shining armor, Kenji." Emi said, blushing a bit.

"Didn't he say he didn't want the first kill to be something he did?" Kenji replied, but Emi just pouted at him in response.

"I don't think any of the things he says match his actions, Kenji." Emi mentioned, someone as irreverent and spontaneous as Monokuma could just up and kill her if he was serious… but… was he serious?

"Well then, it would appear the peanut gallery has finally gathered together." Shiro declared from the top of the stairs, taking slow, grandiose steps. "And since the arranged time has come, I will deign you with my presence until we're all caught up on this school and Monokuma's silly murder game." he said, stopping at the statue of Junko, blinking a bit and giving a quick bow before turning and facing his classmates.

"Let's start with the ground floor. Daisuke, what was in the eastern corridor?" Shiro asked, Rio stepping forward.

"Well, we found a kitchen and dining hall. It's loaded with food, and most of it actually seems pretty ripe too. In the back of the dining hall is a kitchen, fully loaded like a college should be." He continued, stroking his beard sagely. "Connected to the kitchen is a storage closet full of crates, probably full of even more food. There's one more door behind that, but there was no way I could get through it, so we gave up there."

"Very good. Watanabe, eastern corridor report seems to be complete. How about the western half?" Shiro asked, Rio stepping back and letting Yukata take the front.

"We found a bathing room with changing stations, a gym next to that and a laundromat. We had Kiko sniff out each of the rooms and she mostly found some bronze coins with Monokuma on them." Yukata said, pulling a few coins out of his pocket. The Monocoins. Seems Monokuma was telling the truth about those.

"Ah yes, and the laundromat is fully stocked with washing machines and dryers that accept these coppers. A most delightful invention if I do say-" Dahlia began before Shiro cut her off.

"Kurotsuki, did I ask for you to speak? Remain silent until your are given the floor." Shiro ordered.

"Ah! How dare you, pitiful mortal? I'm the empress of all things ethereal, I speak to the whispers you simple beings could never possibly understand. You have the nerve to speak to me in such a manner?" Dahlia said, affronted.

"I am Shiro Kiruma. Fate sent me on the path to lead this country. A shame that you were destined to ramble like a lunatic. Now then, Watanabe. Is that all you were able to find?" Shiro asked, pushing up his glasses.

"Yeah, that's it." Yukata said.

"Takahashi, commentate to me what lies in the second floor." Shiro commanded as Bam walked up, taking Yukata's spot.

"The second floor of Enoshima University houses the Nurse's Office, A/V Room, Men and Women's Bathrooms and seventeen dorm rooms, sixteen assigned for the students!" Bam announced, taking half the group's ears in the process.

"Hrm, seventeen? A possible oversight on the part of the building's construction." Shiro said dismissively.

"But the dorm room was locked and Monokuma was determined to-" Emi interjected.

"Nakayama, were you gathering intel on the second floor?" Shiro said.

"Well, no, but-" Emi said, taken aback slightly.

"Then I ask that you do not interrupt me again and make this meeting longer than it needs to be. You are wasting my time!" Shiro barked out, Emi going quiet and stepping back. Kenji stepped up, hand tightening into a fist.

"Ah, Taisei. I was going to ask you how your investigation into the third floor had gone. So, what did you-" Shiro said with a smug smile, not noticing Kenji's proximity to him until Kenji had punched him right in the face. Shiro hit the floor, the crowd looking in stunned silence. Kenji gritted his teeth. In his anger, he had punched with his bad hand, causing just as much pain to himself as Shiro and opening his wound back up.

Shiro scrambled to his face, grabbing his glasses and putting him back on and glaring daggers at Kenji. "Taisei! What has gotten into you!?" he shouted, fury breaking through his calm demeanor.

"I don't care how important you are! As long as we're in this place, we're all the same. Who we are before this doesn't mean anything! I don't know why the hell you devote yourself to your stupid fucking delusion that you're important. Why can't you just take a single minute to help the rest of us out if YOUR life also is at stake!?"

"It is not delusion! I am a senator of the Japanese Diet! I have more power in my little finger than you have ever dreamed of, Taisei! And I am helping you! I organized this entire meeting to pass information to the rest of you leeches! Just because you want to focus on irrelevant nonsense like a seventeenth room doesn't mean-" another punch silenced Shiro briefly, this time to the stomach.

"You say you want to help? Then act like it instead of trying to control us! Emi almost died because of that seventeenth room! It's not irrelevant just because you say so!" Kenji shouted back.

"Oh, of course. Because your girlfriend says it's important, it has to be, right?" Shiro said, devolving into pettier insults due to his wounded pride. Kenji went for another strike when he was suddenly pulled back. "Huh?" he turned around to see Akira holding his wrist.

"That's enough, Kenji. We're not going to be able to survive this as a group if we go around attacking people just because we don't like them. I'm not gonna let you keep hitting people." Akira warned, Kenji's fists still clenched tightly.

"Those weren't great punches, he didn't lean his body into it." Miho commented out the side of her mouth to Hana.

"Just take a deep breath. Easy now…" Akira said, Kenji breathing in and taking a heavy exhale of breath. "There we go…"

Shiro chuckled, wiping his glasses with a handkerchief in his coat pocket. "Yes, there we go, Taisei. You'll remember your mark on the food chain in due time." he said, feeling his confident composure return, though barely hiding his joy at seeing Kenji be talked to like an untrained dog. Akira turned and glared at Shiro.

"Shiro, if you really are here to help, then you'll stop with the insults and make this an open forum. Now that it's clear just how well you can take a punch, it'd be smart to not make people want to punch you." Akira warned, Shiro's smile fading.

"Understood. Kazue, take the floor. You will be presenting the third floor." Shiro commanded as Akira moved Kenji back, standing him next to Emi. She readied her notebook, flipping back the cover.

"Certainly, but I would like to discuss the second floor's seventeenth dorm room. Given Monokuma's willingness to harm a student over it, there maybe some importance to it." Akira said.

"I think that may prove that the building we're currently staying in wasn't designed originally for the purpose of the killing game. Monokuma just locked off rooms to make it feel more... Thematically appropriate." Shiro said, rubbing his chin in thought.

"Well sadly, until we gather more information that might just be something we can't really figure out." Akira replied, before going back on subject for the third floor. "The third floor contains several classrooms along with a large library taking the majority of the western half of the floor. The eastern half has several facilities including a workshop with various tools, a room full of workout equipment, a janitor's closet and a trash chute leading to somewhere else in the building." Akira said, reading off her notebook.

"We also found a few of those coins Group D found. They're called Monocoins and they work on the laundry machines and the vending machines in the exercise room. Monokuma also said something about a MonoMono machine..." Kenji said, finally calmed down.

"I see. That might be referring to the gashopon machine by the entrance. A frivolous device, really." Shiro said, waving his hand dismissively.

"Unfortunately with that… We've discussed all we need to discuss so far. There doesn't seem to be an exit available to us. You're all dismissed for now." Shiro stated, a hand gesturing to them to break the group up.

"Good… I was getting hungry. Maybe they have steak in the cafeteria…" Miho said, rubbing her stomach as she walked up in the direction she thought the dining hall would be.

Kenji walked off, heading for the stairs when a hand reached out and grabbed him. "Hey, Kenji!" Reiko said, Kenji turning around nervously. "That was pretty cool of you. You're tougher than I thought." she said, putting him off guard.

"Ah.. thanks, Reiko. I don't think Akira's happy with me, though…" Kenji said, looking over to see her talking to Yukiji, who looked as enthusiastic as ever.

"A few wise men once told me this, Kenji. Fuck Tha Police." Reiko said, Kenji looking at her in bewilderment.

"Uh… right… anyway, I better get going… probably gonna get fix up my hand and then get some sleep." he said, pulling away from the group and going for the stairs. As he made it up the second floor, he saw Emi waiting there.

"Hey, Kenji… thanks for sticking up for me like that… that was really brave of you.." she said with her hands behind her back and a smile across her face.

"Yeah, but.. I think we should both stay out of trouble for now until we learn a little more about this place."

"Yeah.. oh! Speaking of! We've got to check the third floor, right?" Emi said.

"Oh, right! Uh… maybe we could stop by the nurse's office so I can get my hand fixed up again?" Kenji asked.

"Ah! Of course! C'mon!" Emi said, grabbing Kenji's undamaged hand and dragging him to the nurse's office.

After a quick bit of clean-up and replacing the bandages with fresh ones, the pair headed for the third floor and into the workshop. "So, what happened with the plasma cutter?" Kenji asked.

"Well, there was a plasma cutter, but the strange thing is all the outlets in the workshop have been severed. I can't seem to get any current, even when I tried to hotwire the plug." Emi explained.

"You think Monokuma had the room set like this in case anyone thought of that?" Kenji asked.

"I can't figure out if this is situational irony, or dramatic irony!" A voice shouted out from behind both of them, Monokuma was staring back at them with a look of excitement on its face. "Maybe a little bit of both, perhaps?" He said, tilting his head.

"Where the hell do you keep coming from!?" Kenji said, legs wide from the surprise.

"I'm in the _walls_ , baby. That's just how I roll. I put the plasma cutter there just so you guys would get upset when you CAN'T use it! How's that for despair? The best examples are always surprisingly underappreciated." Monokuma replied, getting a look of annoyance from Kenji.

"G-get out of here, you stupid teddy bear!" Emi exclaimed.

"Ah-ah-ah! I'm not a teddy bear! I'm a mascot! This wouldn't be a killing school without me, y'know. And I'd be careful going around and name-calling when you both are on… beary thin ice! Kyahaahahaaha~" Monokuma gave out a hearty laugh before disappeared again.

"God, I just… don't know what the hell I'm supposed to feel around that guy. Am I supposed to be dour, or find him funny? Because he's not." Kenji said, feeling a vein throb in his forehead.

"Just ignore him. Maybe he'll just go away eventually…" Emi said, shaking her head.

"Anyway, I don't think that was irony. He just added the plasma cutter as a gag." Kenji thought aloud.

"Yeah…" Emi said, feeling defeated.

"Ah… Emi, didn't you saw you had something to show me?" Kenji asked.

"OH! Right!" Emi replied, cheering up. "I almost forgot! While I was looking for a working outlet, I noticed something weird about one of the walls on this floor… hm, which one was it?" Emi pondered, looking over the walls.

Eventually she showed where the wall was, it was in the hallway, slightly past the workshop, but just before the janitor's closet. The strange thing about it was the fact there seemed to be a panel sitting flush with the wall, and small joints on one side that make it look like a door.

"This door doesn't even have a handle, why is it here?" Emi asked with a confused look on her face.

"Maybe this is a door Monokuma uses to get the drop on us." Kenji thought, but Emi didn't seem to agree.

"No… The other places I've seen Monokuma come from close back up to be flush with the wall. This one has hinges. This door has a purpose, even though I don't know what it is…" Emi concluded, looking over to the workshop.

"D-do you think I'd get in trouble if I tried to saw the door down?" she asked, but Kenji felt a sense of panic surge in him when she asked.

"Please don't. I…. don't want Monokuma to get mad at you again. He might be less forgiving if he sees you trying to break into somewhere twice." Kenji pleaded, Emi's expression sinking a bit.

"Y-yeah… but Monokuma won't mind if we just watch it, right?" Emi said hopefully.

Kenji nodded, rubbing his head lost in thought. "I mean… It's not breaking the rules to look at stuff. Maybe we should take turns watching it when we have some free time." Kenji suggested, Emi smiling and nodding.

"Alright! I'll take the first round, then! You get yourself some sleep, Kenji! You've earned it!" she said, Kenji nodding and walking off, waving goodbye to Emi.


	4. Chapter 1: Daily life 2

Chapter 1: Intentions Of Hope Daily Life 2

 _Ding Dong Bing Bong  
_

"Ahem… Attention students of Enoshima University. It is now 10 PM, making it officially night time. Certain rooms will now be locked until morning.

And remember, sleep is important for your health, so sweet dreams!"

Kenji heard the announcement as he was heading back to his dorm room, he actually hasn't gotten a chance to check it out all day since most of it was arguing and exploring the school. He opened the door to reveal his furnishings.

It was a simple room with a hard wooden floor, light blue colored walls and a bed sitting against the back wall. There was a dresser filled with drawers on the opposite side of the bed, along with a small trash can. A clock was on the wall just over the dresser showing the current time.

On the right hand side of the room, there was an ajar door leading to a small half bathroom with a toilet and a sink. He would have to use the shower on the first floor if he considered washing himself.

There was also a small walk in closet with a sliding door, with several outfits matching the outfit he was currently wearing, despite never seeing this room before in his life.

The bed actually looked fairly comfy, a full sized bed with a large plaid comforter, with a pair of white sheets underneath it and a simple pair of pillows.

"Well… It's a bedroom. I guess." Kenji mused to himself, but as soon as he walked toward the bed, he felt a sense of exhaustion wash over him that has been lagging behind him the last few hours.

He fell face first on the bed with a soft bounce, looking languidly at one of the barred windows as he felt himself drift from consciousness.

Kenji didn't dream that night. It was one of those sleeps that felt like he fell onto his bed, then got up less than 30 minutes later, if it weren't for the announcement on his monitor and the soreness of his body.

 _Ding Dong Bing Bong_

"Gooooooood morning, Students! It is now 7 AM, time to start another beautiful day in this university." Monokuma announced over the monitors, holding a steaming hot cup of black coffee in his hand. Kenji groaned as he got up, rubbing his neck and swinging his legs over the bed.

"Morning already?" Kenji groaned, as his door slammed open, scaring him to the point he fell out of bed with a whimpered scream.

"YOU LEFT YOUR DOOR UNLOCKED, IDIOT!" Monokuma shouted at him from the entrance of the door. "Jeez if you wanna die that badly just ask another student to hit you with a frying pan." he exclaimed, but Kenji just looked at him in a grumpy haze.

"I was tired…" Kenji groaned out, pushing his back to the mattress and resting his head against it as Monokuma crossed his arms, gently tapping his foot.

"I'm just sayin' it would be awful if the first death was because -somebody- didn't properly lock up at night! You're just hittin' mental home runs every time I see you Kenji. I want to go annoy someone else for being stupid just this once. Can you give me that much?" Monokuma complained.

"Shut up…" Kenji muttered as he got up. "Do you mind getting out so I can get dressed?"

"Whatever! Maybe if you locked your door, this wouldn't be a problem! Now I'm gonna go see if Setsuki's fallen down the stairs yet or maybe see if Yukata's spilled all of his cards on the floor! Seeeeeya later~" Monokuma said, leaving and slamming the door shut. Kenji sighed in frustration and went to the closet, sliding open and flipping through the outfits. There had to be one that was slightly different from the others. He soon found one, but it had one distasteful edition. A black-and-white tied, patterned after Monokuma. It certainly looked familiar, but he was not wearing that even if his life depended on it.

He didn't want to look like he had nothing else to wear, so he had to think quick of how to change things up… sadly, there wasn't much you could do with a sweater vest. "..What if I wear the sweater vest on the bottom?" Kenji mused to himself, grabbing the sweater vest and putting it on first. He ignored the itching sensation and began to put on his shirt, leaving it unbuttoned and thinking it over. "...No sleeves. I need one with no sleeves." Kenji said, tossing off the shirt and looking around the room, finding a pair of scissors in one of the drawers. He did a sloppy cut job due to his bandaged hand, bt soon he had a sleeveless shirt that he put over the sweater vest, putting on fresh slacks before checking himself in the mirror.

"...Really?" Monokuma popped in on the monitor, vanishing without another word.

"No one asked you, you… uh… Care Bear from Hell!" Kenji shouted at the monitor, shaking his fist before storming off, heading down to the first flor. He pulled his Monopad to check for the dining hall, seeing several faces popping up on his screen when he swiped to it. Seems everyone was meeting up there for breakfast.

Kenji walked in thinking to sit next to Akira, but she already had a small group of people seated around her; Yukiji sat across from her at the table with Akami to her left and Miho to her right. Kenji shrugged, looking for Emi only to see her sat next to Reiko. Reiko may have given him props yesterday, but that didn't mean they were friends so he headed for another table.

"Hey! Kenji! Saved you a seat!" Rio said, pushing back a chair. At the table was Rio, Haru and Yukata, Kiko sat happily at attention on the table while Yukata flipped over cards in his deck. "Diggin' the 'trapped in a blender' look, Taisei! It's very art nouveau!"

"Look, I didn't want to just wear the same thing and the only thing they had was a stupid Mono- the statue! That's where I saw that tie before!" Kenji said as he sat down.

"Huh? Statue? I have a Barrier Statue deck if you're interest-" Yukata said, looking up from his deck, before he realized no one was listening to him.

"What? No! One of my outfits had a Monokuma tie and I was wondering why it looked so familiar and it just hit me! The statue of Junko has the same tie!" Kenji exclaimed as if this were an epiphany.

"...Yeah, and?" Rio asked.

"Well… it means…" Kenji said, looking down at the table for a second. "Actually I guess it doesn't mean all that much, huh?"

"Ah, don't worry about it, Kenji! We're all a bit on edge with this whole Killing Game thing." Haru said, gently stroking the fur on the back of Kiko's neck. "I think we should just relax as much as we can, while we find a way out."

"That's the spirit, Haru! Just enjoy yourselves while you're here, ya know?" Rio said with a big grin, Yukata letting out a yelp.

"Hey! No! That's my Nopenguin! You can't have it, dog!" he said with a frown on his face, Kiko holding the card in her little teeth and letting out a soft growl.

"Kiko! Your food's in the bowl!" Haru said, snapping his fingers and pointing at a small bowl of wet food. Kiko let go of the card, running back to her bowl and eating up. Yukata grumbled as he wiped dog saliva off his card. "Heh, here's a bit of a trick Yukata. Kiko only fought with you because she thought you were playing with her. Instead of pulling on the card, try letting it go. She'll get bored with it."

"Hm… I wonder if I can teach her to play…" Yukata said, tilting his head curiously at Kiko as she ate.

"You'd have a better chance of teaching her than Kenji! The poor boy can barely dress himself! AAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAH~" Monokuma announced as he appeared in front of the table.

"Ack! Will you get out of here?!" Kenj shouted, all eyes turned to Monokuma and indirectly to Kenji.

"Aww, Kenji! I'm hurt! I thought you'd be happy to see me! After all, I'm here with an EXTRA SPECIAL SUPER ANNOUNCEMENT!" Monokuma declared with a raised fist. Everyone's ears perked up, speculation running rampant, Emi speaking up amongst the chatter.

"You're letting us go?" she asked.

"Ha! Nope! The Extra Special Super Announcement is… Breakfast is served!" Monokuma said, everyone's faces faulting at such a simple announcement being given a grandiose treatment. "Come to you straight from the MonoKi-" he began.

"Don't say MonoKitchen!" Kenji barked out, eye twitching slightly, Yukata scooting himself away from him.

"Aww, but it's being brought here by MonoKatering!" Monokuma moaned, Kenji punching both fists into the table as the entire table groaned from pun infection.

"All of my hate! Just… All of it." he said, scrunching his face in annoyance. Soon, a small cadre of slightly smaller Monokumas in little chef hats rolled out platters, setting them down on each table. Under the lids were stacks of waffles, on the sides were pads of butter, a bottle of maple syrup, peanut butter, and two kinds of jam to match their preference. Along with a big pitcher of orange juice to wash it down. "Bon appetit~" Monokuma said before disappearing.

Everyone grabbed themselves some waffles, Reiko and Miho each grabbing another when one had more. Haru busied himself keeping Kiko from drowning herself in syrup, Yukiji crumbling pieces of KitKat onto his waffles. Kenji grumbled as he ate his breakfast. "Mrhm.. MonoKatering…"

"Man, MonoKuma's really getting to you, huh Kenji?" Rio observed.

"He just keeps popping up and pushing my buttons and pissing me off! Has he done that to any of you guys?" Kenji asked, exasperated.

"Hm.. I think my train deck went missing a while ago, but I don't know if that was him or not…" Yukata said.

"He comes and goes, but Kiko usually barks when he's nearby. She can usually detect anyone." Haru said proudly, Kiko letting out a happy bark. 

"Maybe Monokuma picks on you because you're easily worked up. If you just ...didn't react he probably wouldn't care as much." Rio mused, Kenji furrowing his brow in thought that maybe that was why it's been happening. "Really, I wouldn't worry about it. He's running this whole University, he'll probably be too busy to harass you after a few days. Plus, he has some good OJ!"

"Having good OJ isn't indicative of one's character, Rio. His OJ might be good, but he's definitely up to something evil. " Yukata replied, pointing a waffle covered fork at Rio. Breakfast soon came to an end, the students sighing in relief as the tiny Chef Monokumas rolled in to gather the dishes. Kenji got up, stretching a bit.

"Well, that was… exciting, but I'm thinking Kiko needs a walk. C'mon, Kiko! One Two!" Haru said, Kiko letting out two barks in succession before jumping off the table and onto Haru's empty seat, then to the floor.

"Uh, hey. Mind if I come with, Haru? I could use the workout." Kenji said, Haru laughing.

"Sure thing, Kenji! Let's go!" Haru said, walking out of the kitchen. Kenji followed, looking over at the assembled students. A few things stuck out to him as he left; Dahlia's waffles had been untouched as they were taken away and it looked that only the strawberry jam had been touched, leaving an almost-empty pitcher for the… MonoKatering to take away as she licked jam from her fingers. Net to that was the absence of Airi and Shiro.

"Huh, did Airi and Shiro leave before us?" he asked.

"I don't think they ever showed up. Kiko usually makes a noise when she sees people she likes and she didn't growl, so Shiro wasn't there." Haru said.

"She growls at Shiro?" Kenji said, barely hiding his smile as Haru nodded.

"Yeah. She's not much of a growler so it isn't all that threatening, but if she doesn't like someone, she lets them know." he said with a chuckle. Kiko sniffed at the air as she walked, soon stopping at the MonoMono Machine and sitting down.

"Heh, looks like she wants something. You wanna give it a go, Kenji?" Haru asked, pulling MonoCoins out of his own pouch. Kenji thought it over as Haru put in six Monocoins, getting a strip of beef jerky out of it. "Oh nice!" Haru said, biting off a piece for himself before giving the rest to Kiko. Kenji shrugged, taking out five MonoCoins and putting them into the machine. He spun the dial and out popped his plastic container, Kenji popping it open. To his surprise, he got a small hair clip with a kitty on it.

"Huh. think Emi will like it?" Kenj asked, getting a shrug from Haru.

"Couldn't hurt…" Haru said. "Hey, if it works, maybe put a couple more coins in it later. I know I will."

"I guess…" Kenji said as he started to walk again. "So, Haru, what's it like being a dog trainer? What are some of the tricks?" he asked.

"Part of it is treating your dogs with respect. Dogs tend to take a lot after their owners. If you abuse them or are harsh in discipling them, they'll be vicious. If you give them nothing but treats, you'll spoil them and they just turn into little douchebags. Dog's that respect you as an owner and friend will obey you a lot more easily. You ever have a dog, Kenji?" Haru asked, Kenji looking up at the ceiling and rubbing his chin.

"I… I don't remember. I think I might've had a fish. Not really the same, is it?" Kenji said, eliciting a chuckle from Haru.

"Heh! Nah, can't say it is! But hey, when we make it out of here, you can come around the Yamada family kennel and have yourself a look." He said, giving Kenji a light pat on the back of his shoulder.

"Your family had a kennel?" Kenji inquired further.

"Mhm. Grew up around dogs my whole life. Kiko was one of the first I bred, though. I guess that makes her special to me."

"So that's why you brought her with you." Kenji said, Haru looking down at the floor.

"Well, no… she was just kind of in the locker with me. She started barking like crazy in the dark and woke me up." he admitted, Kenji nodding. Was everyone shoved into a locker before they got here? He knew Yukata had mentioned being locked with Airi in another room, but how did they get someone like Haru in there?

"You got trapped too? Who was in your classroom, Haru?" Kenji asked, needing to know more.

"Uh.. I think it was that short girl, Hana. It's crazy she turned out to be a nearly professional level basketball player." Haru said, Kenji laughing.

"Yeah, but she's probably no the craziest person we met here." Kenji replied, shuddering as he remembered Dahlia's fascination with his bloody wound.

"True.. anyway, it looks like Kiko is tiring down a bit." Haru said, offering a hand for the pup to climb into.

"Sure, I'll catch up with you later." Kenji said as he headed upstairs for his dorm. On his way there, he saw Yukata putting in the key to his room. "Hey! Yukata! What's up?" he said as he walked over to Yukata, startling him and causing him to nearly drop his cards. He swiftly caught him in one hand, with a flourish as well.

"Oh! It's just you, Kenji. Feeling better? You seemed kind of tense at breakfast." Yukata said.

"Yeah, I'm feeling great. I think that walk was just what I needed. Hey, you got a spare deck? I always wanted to learn how to play." Kenji said, Yukata thinking it over.

"I dunno… a lot of my decks are built with the previous meta in mind. I know that there's a lot of longtime players that like the new meta, but I think the old one was perfectly fine. Besides, Yu-gi-oh is a tricky game to pick up, it might take some time." he warned.

"Try me." Kenji dared, Yukata shrugging and leading Kenji into his room.

Kenji spent a few games against a severely handicapped Yukata to help him learn how to play, before Yukata finally decided to play like normal. Kenji lost every single game. Strangely, the losses didn't bother him too much. He actually had fun, even if half the time it felt like Yukata was speaking in moon language at him with all the game terms he was throwing around.

"Okay, I think that's game. I think you're getting better, Kenji. You actually exposed a flaw in my Mirror Force deck. I'll have to fix that later." Yukata said, shuffling his cards.

"Thanks, Yukata. You're really good at this game, huh?" Kenji said.

"I'm good at a lot of card games. You don't get to be the Ultimate Card Game Player if you're only good at one game. Yu-gi-oh was the first one I learned, was all. So it's obviously my favorite." he explained with a shrug..

"Well, that's cool. Ha, maybe I should've asked you to teach me how to play poker. Probably would've been easier to figure out." Kenji joked, getting a laugh from Yukata..

"Heh heh. Maybe, but you seem kind of like a guy who wears his heart on his sleeve. Not the best trait if you want to keep a good poker face." Yukata said, rubbing the back of his head.

"Yeah?" Kenji said, not sure if that was a good thing or not.

"Yeah, but it makes it easier for you to make friends. People like that kind of earnestness, ya know?" Yukata said. "Anyway, I've got some deck fixing to can stick around, but I'm probably not gonna talk all that much. Have to contemplate my strategies and all." he said, Kenji getting up.

"Sounds… fun, but I think I'll pass. I'll catch up with you later." he said, heading out of Yukata's room. He checked the time on his Monopad. He had no idea he had spent over five hours just learning card strategies and playing. Maybe that how time flying thing was true, but not he had to figure out what to do for the rest of the day. He looked at the kitty clip and shrugged, heading for Emi's dorm.

He knocked on the door, getting no response. He tried the doorbell, nothing fo that. "Hm, maybe she's in the workshop…" Kenji pondered, heading up for the third floor. He entered the workshop to see Emi sat at a workbench pulling nails out of Reiko's bat with a claw hammer.

"Hey, Emi… is… is that Reiko's baseball bat?! D-does she know you have that?!" Kenji said, shaken by the sight of the bat.

"Oh, hi Kenji! Of course she knows, she gave it to me! The nails were getting rusty and bent. I thought she could use fresh nails." Emi said, pulling out another nail. "I'm replacing them with coated steel nails. They don't rust and they clean off with a simple rinse of water. It's way safer." she explained.

"Wouldn't it be better to… not let her have a weapon?" Kenji asked with a hint of hope in his voice.

"I don't think getting rid of the bat is gonna keep Reiko from threatening anyone. I think it's more for her… image?" Emi said, thinking aloud. "Aesthetics, ya know? Now, the trick here is that the nails are gonna be a bit loose. But I put a epoxy resin inside the wood to restore some of its structure, so the nails won't move even with the bigger holes. Should make them nice and sturdy!" she said with a chipper tone.

"Wow, you're really good at this." Kenji said, impressed even if he still wasn't sure about the project.

"It's like I said; you need it? I build it. Say, you mind holding the bat down while I hammer in the new nails?" she asked, Kenji reaching for the bat, grabbing close to the barrel. "Hrm, no.. put them just a bit lower." she said, putting her hands atop of his and sliding them along the bat.

"Ack! E-Emi!" Kenji sputtered out, Emi chuckling.

"Don't worry, I've sanded the bat so there aren't any splinters. Alright! There we go! Grip it real tight!" she said, stopping at the grip and taking her hands off his, grabbing her hammer. They spent the next half hour renailing the bat, Kenji turning the bat over to another side so she could keep hammering in more nails. They soon finished the bat, Emi admiring her handwork.

"Alright! It's perfect! Reiko's gonna love it! Thanks, Kenji! I'll be sure to put in a good word for you for helping!" Emi said, ecstatic as her eyes pored over the bat.

"No problem. Maybe that'll get her to stop hating me." Kenji said.

"Reiko doesn't actually hate you. Sure, she thinks you're still a bit of of a wuss, but she said you're tough when it counts. So… I guess she respects you?" Emi said, Kenji looking a little surprised.

"R-really? She respects me?" Kenji replied, leaning forward with his elbows on the table they were sitting next to.

"...Just because you can be surprisingly tough doesn't mean you should be fronting a biker gang, obviously. Just… being able to stand up for yourself is something I'm jealous of sometimes." Emi said sullenly.

"Well, I don't really stand up for myself. I stand up for others." Kenji said.

"Yeah, but that still, if I was more assertive, I wouldn't need you to keep coming to my rescue. It's… a bit embarrassing." she replied, looking at the workbench and away from Kenji. Kenji struggled to think of what to say to that, thinking until he remembered the kitty clip.

"Uh, hey, Emi?" he asked.

"Yeah?"

"I got something out of the MonoMono Machine. I'm not one for hair accessories, but I was thinking you might like it…" he said, feeling awkward as he handed her the clip.

"Oh! Thanks, Kenji!" she said taking the kitty clip and putting it on one of her bangs.

"No problem. So, how's the secret passage been going?" Kenji asked, Emi looking like she had something to say, but then something unexpected happened.

 _Ding Dong, Bing Bong._

Monokuma appeared on the screen in the corner of the room to make an announcement.

"Attention students. Please meet me in the gym for a very special announcement. Now." He said, a bit more...stern than his typical demeanor, before the video feed turned off.

"You don't think he found out that we know, do you?" Kenji asked, Emi shaking her head.

"No, if he did, he would've confronted us directly." Emi said. That made sense to Kenji. Monokuma was more than happy to speak his mind if you got him riled up. The two left the workshop, Emi carrying the fixed-up bat as they made their way down to the first floor.


	5. Chapter 1: Daily Life 3

Akira was reading a book while in the library when the bell sounded for another one of Monokuma's announcements.

"Attention students. Please meet me in the gym for a very special announcement. Now." He spoke before the feed turning off. Some of the playfulness in his voice seemed to be gone, which made Akira feel a pang of concern. She folded the book up, setting it on the table before getting up and heading to the door… Only getting halfway there before turning around, grabbing the book she placed on the table and putting it back on the shelf where it belonged.

"There… All better." Akira said with a smile as she rushed back to the door, the clicking of her dress shoes echoing in the vast library room as she pushed the double doors open, where she saw Shiro and Yukiji, standing across the hall from each other.

"What do you think he wants?" Yukiji asked Akira, Shiro made a brisk pace past them, heading down the stairs. Akira looked down the stairs, seeing Kenji and Emi pass by the two of them as they rushed down the stairs, Emi carrying a nailed bat. She reached for for her side, briefly forgetting that she didn't have a taser, but her police instinct had kicked in and it looked like Emi was chasing Kenji down. She quickly pushed out the idea. Emi wouldn't kill anyone, especially not Kenji.

"No clue. It seemed... Different somehow." Akira replied, looking back at Yukiji, who had his hands clasped together, though the fact his sleeves were too long just meant they were dangling in front of his chest.

"He's not gonna make us kill each other, Yukiji. We're better than that." She said reassuringly, giving Yukiji a soft smile on his face as she calmly and orderly went down the staircase, getting to the ground floor and making her way to the Gym. Since nobody passed her, she assumed she must have been the last one in, sitting in the back of the room behind everyone as she got a good look at the gym.

It was a gym built mostly for basketball, paintings of the play area of basketball were on the waxed wooden floor, with a folded up hoop on each side. There was a small basketball rack sitting on one side, but had no basketballs on it. Banners of cheering Monokumas loomed over the bleachers.

There was a raised platform with a curtain in front of it, along with a small podium with a stepping stool on it. Monokuma popped up from the floor, landing gracefully on the podium as he waited for the students to file in.

"If this were a race, Akira lost by the way." Monokuma joked, seeing the doors shut behind Akira and Yukiji as she walked closer to get a better look at him. Akira furrowed her brow a bit, adjusting her hat to mask her annoyance, before Shiro spoke up.

"So, why hastially make an announcement like this? Did something come up?" he said, demanding an explanation. Monokuma sighed softly, putting his hands on his hips and tapping a foot.

"Don't act like you deserve any explanation, Mr. Kiruma. I'll explain things as I please." Monokuma shot back, before addressing the rest of his audience. "Typically in these kinds of killing games… I usually give you some kind of **incentive.** A mystery, something you need to do for me to make this killing game more interesting." Monokuma spoke, making sure to lean into the microphone despite the fact they could most likely hear him without it.

"And I know it's been about 2 days since we've started. But… I feel like you're still getting a little too comfortable for my liking." He added, Akira tucking her arms into her pockets as she waited to hear what he was going to do next.

"Trust me. I'll get to everything you'll want to hear about the little situation you happen to be in, but until then… Allow me to give you that little nudge to get all of you rolling down the hill. A **killing motive.** " Monokuma stated, his red eye glowing slightly brighter than before.

"Let's call this the speed round! I'll introduce a buncha mechanics specifically to get the first murder on my little Rube Goldberg killing game machine rolling." He said, hopping off the pedestal, but taking the microphone with him.

"A murder will happen within 2 days from now. I guarantee it. Because I am now implementing a strict **48 hour time limit.** For the next murder to happen, but that would still be kind of boring, so let's kick things up a notch. Boom, Whatever." He said, shaking his hands as the students gossiped from confusion.

"For exactly two hours after 11 PM. All the dorm room doors will unlock, leaving every student vulnerable for attacks in that short period of time. This will start tonight, this won't be a problem for Kenji of course, he doesn't lock his own door." Monokuma said, giving Kenji a wink.

"Hey!" Kenji complained from the crowd.

"And for those of you with… A bit more of a paranoid personality type. I will now be gifting ONE student a special prize." He said, reaching behind his back to reveal… a pink colored Monopad. "Who wants it? Raise your hand, say the magic words. C'mon, you can do it!" He said with a big smile on his teddy bear face.

"I'll take it." Shiro announced loudly, his voice sharply standing out from the other students. Kuma tossed it to him, and he caught it gracefully.

"This is a special Monopad that tells you **which room has opened their doors in the two hour period all dorm rooms have been unlocked.** You can choose to hide this… Or share it during the class trial! I don't really care anymore." Monokuma joked, Shiro looking at it behind his glasses with a tight lipped frown.

"What happens when you run out of time, is the last little nugget in this 10 piece dippin' spectacular of a motive. If you run out of time... **Six students will be killed at random.** " He said, a gasp of shock coming from the crowd, Akira felt something go up her spine, making her clench her teeth in anger.

"So… It's your call. One? Or six. The time limit will run out at exactly 8 PM, two days from now." He spoke, before placing his microphone back onto the stand, waving all the students goodbye. "See ya at the trial, losers~" He announced, before disappearing.

"T...The fuck!?" Reiko shouted in response to his, emotions in the room nearly turning to a riot just from one announcement.

"Somebody needs to save us!" One voice shouted from the crowd.

"THIS HAS TO BE A JOKE!" Another shouted over the uproar of the 16 students.

"I want my mommy…" One last voice called, until Akira bit her lower lip, pulling a whistle from her belt and blowing it at full volume.

"CALM DOWN! EVERYONE!" Akira demanded, some of the people stopping from shoving each other to look at her. "H-he might be bluffing… Remember that one regulation in the Monopad? He can't be directly responsible for the murders. Right? There's no way he'd do that!" She plead with the group, Shiro tucking the tablet into the fold of his coat as he glared across the room at the police girl.

"And yet he also has a regulation saying he can add rules as he pleases. Observe." He said, pulling the alternate Monopad out and opening it for people to see.

Case #1 rule only: Doors will unlock at 11PM for one hour. This will continue for 2 days until the time runs out, then if there isn't a murder, 6 students will be punished at random.

"Regardless of if it's a bluff or not. We need to do something, or Monokuma will be bored, and punish all of us." Kenji replied, Shiro tucking the Monopad under an arm and watching as the discourse continued.

"If that's the case, I need to prepare. I'm not going to be punished for your inability to act" Shiro said coldly, shoving his way through the small crowd of people and to the door with the intent of returning to his dorm.

Akira ran in front of the door, blocking off his exit. "How could you say something like that! We're all supposed to be friends. Just because the pressure's on doesn't mean we have to tear each other apart for someone else's amusement. We need to keep calm, and think abou-" She was cut off when Shiro kneed her in the stomach, causing her to double forward and land on the ground face first.

"Move it, peasant! Unlike you, people are waiting for me to return." He said, opening the door and slamming it behind him, leaving the room in silence.

"Akira!" Yukiji shouted, running over to her, getting on one knee and propping her up against him so she could catch her breath.

"D-damn it. I'm sorry." Akira said, panting gently from the pain in her ribcage. "I-I thought he would listen to me. I just wanted to keep everyone calm." She muttered, standing herself back up with the assistance of Yukiji.

"That son of a bitch." Reiko said, marching to the door, taking the bat out of Emi's hands and slinging it on her shoulder as she stood in front of Akira. "I'll make him eat every goddamn nail on this bat after I get done clawing his FUCKING EYES OUT!" She snarled, waiting for Akira to move from the door. But… Akira blocked the door again.

"Just because we have someone who isn't cooperating doesn't mean we need to go and kill him too… Please. I implore you to just… Believe in me, alright? I don't think Monokuma is going to hurt us like this." She said, determination in her eyes.

"Move it, Akira. Shiro is the source of all of our troubles, if I obliterate his ass, then we won't have this much arguing." Reiko demanded, but Akira just pushed her back to the door, softly shaking her head.

"I'm not allowing violence, Reiko… As long as I'm here justice needs to survive. You'll have to kill me first." she continued, despite the imposing woman in front of her.

"I don't even have to kill him. I'll rip his fucking legs off and keep him tied up in a closet. He'll shut the fuck up while we get out of here." Reiko suggested, but Akira remain stone faced. Reiko's snarl faded as she looked at the floor. "Look… Don't be an idiot. If the unlocking doors happen tonight, You might be preyed upon by Shitface McGlasses over there, any of us could… And if we kill him in self defense, one of us would be the Blackened and nobody would fucking win." Reiko continued to try justifying how she feel, but Emi slowly walked between the two of them.

"I think… whoever controlling Monokuma might be **somewhere in this college** , trying to influence our behavior." Emi said, trying to de-escalate things further. "Maybe… if we stop them before the time limit, we can save everyone." She said, turning to face Akira, who slowly walked away from the door.

"Look… Here's what we do." Akira started, adjusting the brim of her hat lower to make herself look more imposing. "We have to communicate as much as we can, before we consider any actions. No one leave rooms without informing someone where they're going." She said sternly, the other students slowly heading up to her to watch her speak.

"If we really are working together, we have to communicate. Anyone who isn't communicating is working against us, understood? We'll head to bed later tonight, and tomorrow I'll try to talk Shiro into giving me his Monopad so I can monitor night time actions. Until then, there is a curfew in place… **DO NOT leave your rooms after 10 PM**. Remain in there until morning comes. Understood?" Akira demanded, quiet agreeing coming from some of the people in the crowd.

"Let's… Go to bed." Akira said, holding her sore rib as she opened the door, turning away from them and sluggishly lurching back up the stairs so she could go to her bedroom. Akira made it back to her dorm room and locked the door, leaning against the wall and feeling a sharp pain in her stomach that made her double over and begin coughing, blood coming from her mouth and spilling onto her lips and into her hands. "Shoot… he hit harder than I thought." Akira said, as she slowly walked back over to her bed, sitting on it.

She looked around the room, she still didn't like how pink the walls in her room was, it was gaudy and unpleasing on her eyes unless the lights were out, meaning her room was rather dark at the moment. There was nothing on the floor, so she didn't have to worry about tripping on anything.

After that, she lost track of time.

 _Ding Dong, Bing Bong._

"Ahem. Attention students, it is now 10 PM. Making it officially night time! Certain rooms in the building will now remain closed until morning comes.

And remember… The doors will unlock from 11PM to 1PM!. Sweet dreams, everyone!" Monokuma announced that it was night time, before the screen turned off and left the wounded Akira in the dark.

She wanted to forget that today happened, so she quietly unbuttoned her jacket, pulling it over her head and setting it to the side, along with taking off her pants and shoes to leave her in just a pair of modest panties and a tanktop. She hung her hat on the edge of the bed, crawled into the covers and curled up into a fetal position in hopes that she can just sleep and pretend like it didn't happen.

She couldn't sleep. She laid there in pain with her eyes shot open because soon she would head a single sound that she didn't think would scare her.

 _Click._

Her door just unlocked, meaning it was now 11 PM. She got out of bed, slowly walking over to the door and taking a deep breath, reaching down and trying to push the lock back in… But it was loose, it wouldn't lock no matter how hard she pushed the lock to activate it. It was just a door.

She gave up, softly walking back to her bed and sitting on it, watching her door intently. She heard EVERYTHING. Footsteps, the sound of the vents creaking as warm air travelled through them, she even felt the stale-ness of the air creep up the back of her neck. She began to sweat, softly clenching her fists hard enough she could feel her nails beginning to dig into her skin.

 _BANG._

 _BANG BANG._

Akira shrieked in fear, leaping off her bed and falling on her face. She padded around the room, trying to find something she could hold in self defence. The sound came from her door, she didn't know why anything was happening.

She couldn't find a weapon, so she just slowly walked to the side of the door, standing at the side to see if someone will open it and walk in to try and kill her.

 _Bang Bang._

The door was hit again, though this time subtly softer than before. Akira took a deep, pained breath from the feeling of her sore ribs pushing against her lungs, pulling the door handle and leaping in the doorway, both hands in a Karate chop position.

"HI-YAH!" She shouted, posing in front of who was on the other side of the door. It was Miho, the wrestler girl she met a day before. She was wearing a long grey nightgown over her more curvy frame, in one hand was a roll of bandages, in the other a small pair of surgical scissors.

"Uhh… Hi." Miho said with a confused look on her face. Akira dropped her defense, looking a bit confused by why she was there.

"Didn't I say that we weren't allowed outside after 10PM?" Akira asked. Miho sighed, gently walking into the room and turning the light on to make things easier to see.

"I tried to sleep, but I guess I got worried." She said, setting her bandage and scissors on the nightstand next to Akira's unmade bed. "Shiro hit you really hard. I wasn't sure you were okay… I wanted to check up on you and see if I could help." She said, sitting on her bed. Akira looked confused, slightly walking forward.

"I-i'll be okay. We could have treated this in the morning, y'know." Akira said, looking at the wall before looking back at the girl lounging on her bed.

"There was one time I was wrestling, defending my championship against another wrestler. I went for a moonsault, and she lifted both her knees up to block it. But we mistimed the move, and broke four of my ribs." Miho said, gently unwinding the bandage and slowly wrapping it around one of her arms as Akira watched confused.

"I tried to be tough about it. I kept telling the referee I was okay… I didn't want to end the match and get some help. But I ended up piercing my lungs with my fractured ribs. Once I got up, I was throwing up blood and it scared the audience." She continued, reaching up to slide a hand under Akira's chin, lifting her head slightly.

"You have flecks of blood on your lips. So I can tell you must be reeling, please stop trying to play tough." She said, heading to the sink, soaking a bandage in some water and coming back to clean her face a little bit while she talked.

"When I coughed up blood, the sponsors called my promoter angrily, like I planned to break my ribs… And I got suspended from the company for 6 months to appease them, since I tried to wrestle through the match injured instead seek medical help." She said, gently walking behind Akira now, sliding her tank top up from her waist, to just underneath her bra.

"H-hey! What are you doing Miho!?" Akira asked confused, but Miho gently began to push her fingers gently against each set of her ribs. "Palpating, dummy. I have to see if you broke any of your ribs." She replied, Akira feeling awkward from feeling Miho's body rubbing the back of her head and shoulders.

Eventually, Miho got to near the bottom of Akira's ribs, and noticed her wince when she pushed on one of the ribs. "You broke a rib. It isn't puncturing anything, but we can't just leave it like that." She said, pushing Akira's shoulder to sit her down on the bed as she then stood up, sitting on her knees in front of the police girl as she softly began to wrap her ribs in bandage.

"You know how to do this?" Akira asked, slowly feeling the tape on her ribs tightening with every rotation. Miho looked up with a little smile.

"When you're on the road, you don't always have a doctor. I learned the miracles of wrapping up things if they hurt so they can heal a bit before I hurt myself again." Miho eventually finished wrapping up her chest and stomach, slicing the tape with the scissors before tucking it into the bandage wrap so it won't slip off.

"How do you feel?" Miho asked, sliding her shirt back down to hide the bandages on her ribs, standing back up straight with her hands on her hips.

"Uhm.. They feel a little better." Akira said, blushing slightly. "Thank you, Miho." She said, her voice rather sheepish sounding from the… unexpected moment of personal talk from Miho.

She gently reached up, placing her hand on Akira's head and ruffled her hair a few times. "No problem! If you ever need my help again, just let me know." She said, gently turning away and walking to the door, opening it and turning back to look at Akira sitting on her bed alone now.

"If you need to feel safe Akira… Come to my dorm, alright? I'm not going to kill anyone, I promise." She said, pointing to herself with a thumb and giving her a wink, before closing the door behind her and exiting the room, closing the door.

Akira gently turned the light back off, climbing back into the covers and falling asleep, feeling a little more at ease than before thanks to Miho.


	6. Chapter 1: Daily Life 4

_DIng Dong Bing Bong_

"Gooooooood morning, Students! It is now 7 AM, time to start another beautiful day in this university." came Monokuma's announcement, waking Akira up from her sleep. She got up slowly, not wanting to upset the bandages Miho gave her as she got herself dressed. She looked over her clothes as she put them on, decided to turn her hat backwards briefly before looking at it in the mirror and sighing.

"No, that's wrong. It needs to face forward." she said, turning it back in place and heading out of her room. She stopped at Yukji's dorm, gently knocking on the door. "Yukiji? It's Akira. You up?" she asked, hearing movement from inside the room. The door opened, Yukiji stepping out in his usual garb, though one with a Monokuma shirt, softly rubbing the sleep from his eyes, with a piece of candy sticking out of his mouth. "Hey, Yukiji… why the Monokuma shirt?" Akira asked.

"I found it in my closet." Yukiji said, letting out a yawn. "It fit." he said bluntly.

"You okay, Yukiji? You look tired… more tired than usual." Akira said, concerned.

'I couldn't sleep well last night. I kept hearing noises…" Yukiji said.

"Oh, sorry. Miho was trying to come by and fix up my ribs." Akira explained, seeing Yukiji shake his head.

"No, the noises I heard were more quiet… like breathing." Yukiji said.

"Breathing?" Akira asked, alarmed.

"Y-yeah, I didn't see anyone, so maybe it was the wind…" Yukiji admitted, however Akira was not happy to hear someone had been in Yukiji's room. They were probably there to kill him. But why hesitate? She started thinking that maybe Miho's banging had startled them into inactivity, but that meant they'd probably try for tonight. She needed to know who was there last night. So, in spite of her disdain for him, she lead them to Shiro's room.

"Shiro! It's Akira! Open up!" she shouted, pounding on Shiro's door. Shiro swung the door open, glaring at them.

"What do you think you are doing, Kazue? I was reading before breakfast. You better have a good reason for interrupting my mental stimulation." he said.

"We need the special Monopad. I need to review the door log for last night. You can have it back when I'm finished." Akira said.

"No." Shiro answered without a second's thought.

"But someone was in Yukiji's room! They could have killed him!" Akira countered.

"And I'm expected to care about Chimon's well being because…" Shiro said, letting the question linger.

"Shiro, you're being selfish! That kind of information should be available to all of us! We're all at risk here!" she argued, Shiro simply looking at her with visible disgust.

"If you need to cheat to avoid death, then it is not my fault that fate lead any of you to an early end." he said, shutting the door in their faces.

"He's not very helpful, is he?" Yukiji asked, Akira sighing and walking off.

"Forget him, you can stay in my room tonight if you feel nervous about sleeping in yours." she offered.

"A-ah… sleep with you?" Yukiji mumbled, hiding his face with his hands. Akira blinked, now imagining her, Miho and Yukiji sandwiched awkwardly in her single bed.

"I need to stop inviting people into my room…" she said under her breath. "I mean, we could also switch rooms if it makes you feel more comfortable." Akira suggested.

"Uh… I like my room… it has my clothes in it, and my KitKat collection." Yukiji said.

"Yeah, but you're not safe in your room. You can bring a change of clothes and some KitKats if you need." Akira said, stopping at the MonoMono Machine and putting in five MonoCoins. The machine popped out a jelly doughnut, Akira grimacing slightly. "I think he's rigging this to be funny…" she mumbled, trying one more time and getting a bikini, which was met with a deep sigh. She walked off, eating the doughnut as they headed for the dining hall.

They sat down at a table, joined by Akami. "Good morning, Akira. Yukiji. How did you sleep last night?" he asked as he sat down.

"Not well. Yukiji heard breathing and my ribs were bothering me." Akira said, which Akami met with a pout.

"So… you didn't sleep well either?" he asked, his head tilting slightly with concerned eyes.

"Did something happen to you too, Akami?" Akira asked, taking a sip from a nearby glass of water.

"Yeah… I forgot to take my foundation off before I went to bed. I left it all over my pillow!" Akami shouted, standing from his seat a bit and looking like a sad kitten.

"Ah, sorry to hear that, Akami… but nothing else? No weird sounds?" Akira asked.

"No, besides some knocking, everything was pretty quiet." he answered. The would be Miho coming by her room last night, so Akira was relieved to know no one else was banging around, but that still gave her pause as to who was in Yukiji's room. She ruled out Bam, who was chatting it up with Hana at another table. as neither was known for being quiet. Neither were Setsuki or Reiko and if Reiko really wanted to kill someone, it would've been her and Shiro.

"Shiro…" she muttered aloud.

"What about him?" Akami asked.

"Huh? Oh! Well, I tried to get the pink Monopad from him to see who was in Yukiji's room, but he refused." Akira explained.

"Maybe he was the one who was in Yukiji's room. That's why he doesn't want anyone seeing it." Akami suggested.

"Maybe… but why go after Yukiji and not me or Kenji?" Akira asked, rubbing her chin.

"Because you guys can defend yourselves. No offense to Yukiji-" Akami began.

"None taken." Yukiji interjected, biting into another KitKat as he looked off into space.

"But Kenji showed he can knock Shiro around and you're a cop. He's not gonna attack people that can fight him off." Akami continued.

"Well, I'm just a cadet, but I can see where you're coming from. Still, Shiro's an asshole, but I don't think he'd be one to murder. His type don't get their own hands dirty, ya know?" Akira pointed out, Akami nodding in agreement as the Chef Monokumas rolled out trays of doughnuts for everyone. Akira grumbled and bit into the one she got from the MonoMono Machine.

"So… he has an accomplice? But who would work with him?" Yukiji asked.

"Probably Airi. No one else would tolerate him enough to work for him." Akami said, Akira nodding. "Anyway, what are you gonna do about Yukiji's sleep problem? If there was someone watching him last night, he may want to not be in his room tonight."

"I've been trying to get him out of his room, but he's been hesitant." Akira said.

"I like my room. It has my toothbrush." Yukiji commented, picking at a chocolate doughnut.

"Then why not stand guard outside his room? Get up when the doors unlock and stand by his door." Akami considered.

"Well, it's better than nothing." Akira said, finishing her doughnut. After breakfast, Akira got up, followed by Yukiji.

"Do you really think standing guard is a good idea?" he asked, Akira nodding.

"Of course. I'll be able to see who gets out of their rooms and if anyone tries to get through them, I'll blow my whistle." she said, pulling out her whistle. She looked at Yukiji, who looked somewhat upset. "What's the matter, Yukiji? You'll be safe, trust me…"

"It's not that, it's just… I haven't had anything to play in a while. I've been kind of bored." he said, Akira blinking in surprise.

"You haven't been playing chess?" she asked.

"Don't have a board or pieces." he admitted.

"Hm.. well, there should be a few books on chess. Maybe that will help." Akira proposed.

"I have an idea…" Yukiji said as they went into the library. Yukiji held Akira at the door, holding the door open as he put a hand on her shoulder. "Go to the class rooms… get chalk." He said with a smile on his face. She nodded quietly as he closed the door.

Akira went and got several sticks of chalk, leaving them in front of the door as Yukiji took them and ran inside. About half an hour later, the door opened as Akira was leaning against a wall napping. Yukiji was sweating and trying to catch his breath.

"Pssst… Come in, it's dooone!" he said with a smile. She went inside and gasped as he seemingly converted the floor to a big makeshift chess board. An 8 by 8 grid, with potted plants on one side of the board, and statues of monokuma on the other.

"It's chess! Big chess." Yukiji said with a little chuckle, Akira couldn't help but smile at his effort. The white spaces where chalked in, the black were the just the wooden floor.

"I wrote little notes on each piece as to what they represent, since there was only like.. 2 kinds of plants and 2 kinds of Monokumas, but whatever, it works." he admitted, rubbing the back of his head.

"Wow, this is impressive, Yukiji!" Akira said.

"Thanks, probably will only be able to do this once before Monokuma puts it all back, but it'll be good enough for a while." Yukiji said, taking his spot with the white pieces. Akira took the black pieces.

"Where did you get all these potted plants?" Akira asked.

"They were all in the library. They were all over the place." Yukiji said. They soon began play, moving Monokuma statues and plants. What would've been a fairly short game otherwise for They both required several minutes of dragging heavy pieces around, mixed in with several breaks to get a drink and rest, especially because of Akira's still injured ribs.

"And… checkmate…" Yukiji finally gasped out, dropping his potted "knight" onto the floor, breaking the pot and spilling dirt everywhere. "Oh man… I broke it…" he said, huffing in air.

"It's fine, we'll clean it up after a bit of rest…" Akira said, lying down on the floor. After a few minutes, the two worked on cleaning up the broken pot, sweeping up the dirt and broken glass with a broom. "There we go. Good game, Yukiji. That was fun!" Akira said.

"Yeah, usually this game's mentally exhausting…" Yukiji said, wiping sweat with his overlong sleeve, but smiling all the same. They swept up the dirt and glass into a garbage bag, which Akira slung over her shoulder and slowly began to walk her way to the trash chute on the same floor. Yukiji followed her to it, as she opened the door and slid the trash bag into the chute, hearing it falling down.

"I wanna know where that goes…" Yukiji said, putting a finger to his lower lip as he heard the trash fall.

"I don't think that's a great idea…" Akira said, closing her eyes and pointing a finger up. "What if it fell into a furnace? Or what if it falls down and you break your legs." she continued, before she opened her eyes, seeing his legs hanging from the door of the chute as he tried to climb inside.

"W-waaaaaaaaait!" She shouted, grabbing him by the legs to try and pull him back out of the chute, but the pain in her ribs made her gasp, her falling in right after him. The chute slid down like a slide, getting less steep the deeper it went, until they both landed in a pile of trash bags.

"Weeeee!" Yukiji cried out as they both landed in a dumpster together. "That… Was… Coooooooool!" Yukiji shouted, hopping out of the bin of trash bags and looking at his surroundings.

"WHY DID YOU DID THAT?!" Akira shouted, climbing out after him as he looked at the door. Leaning down to fiddle with the lock when suddenly Monokuma showed up.

"Y'know, when I thought to myself that 'most human beings are garbage' that was NOT what I had in mind." He complained, walking up to the door. "Welp, if Yukiji is gonna turn a garbage dump into a Disneyworld ride, I might as well unlock this door for you guys." He said, snapping his fingers and unlocking the door.

Akira walked up to the door, softly twisting the knob and opening it to see where she was. She was standing in the closet of the shower room, walking outside of it and looking at the tiled walls and mirrors.

"So… It leads to the shower room?" she asked, Monokuma just let out a sigh. "This actually isn't one of the secrets I left out for you guys, it's just… Who the heck rides down a trash chute?" He said, before quickly disappearing.

"Can we go again?" Yukiji asked Akira, who was wide eyed with exasperation.

"Nooooooooooooooooooo." She said, drawn out and frustrated. "I mean… no. It's pretty unsanitary." She said with a frown as two people entered the shower. Setsuki and Emi were both standing in the middle of the shower room draped in towels.

"Uhhh… This is awkward." Akira said, looking at the two of them just wearing towels. Yukiji immediately turned pink and hid behind Akira.

"...Did you guys just slide down a trash chute?" Emi asked, her head twisted in a look of confusion.

"Ow… My reputation hurts." Akira said, tears dripping from her eyes as she tried to fight a sniffle from coming on. Her clean clothes were covered in dirt and trash and she was worried that her status as being clean and orderly was ruined.

"I-it was a my idea! I thought it'd be cool and it was!" Yukiji piped up from behind Akira.

"Nice! Trash sliding! I wonder if I can fit a luge in there!" Setsuki said.

"Look! No one else is going to ride the trash chute! Why do I have to tell people this!?" Akira cried, exasperated.

"Well, there isn't really a rule against it. Monokuma would've put it in the regulations..." Emi pointed out.

"W-well, it's in the Akira Kazue Regulations! I will not have any more trash sliders in this school! C'mon, Yukiji!" Akira said, covering Yukiji's eyes as they walked out of the shower. "Don't use all the hot water!"

"No promises, KiKi!" Setsuki called, giving a double V sign with her hands.

Akira and Yukiji went their separate ways, Akira going to her room to change and then bring her dirty clothes to the laundry. She put in a Monocoin, turning on the machine and letting her clothes clean up and checked how much time she had left. It was three in the afternoon. She still had some time left and she went to the bathing room, needing to shower out the smell of garbage.

She got herself stripped and in a towel, ready to go when she heard the door slam open, jumping a bit.. "Ahhh! Nothing like a few layups to get the muscles burning!" Hana shouted as she walked into the bathing room. "Oh, hey Akira! You showerin' too?"

"...Yes. That's why I'm in the bathing room." Akira said as Hana grabbed a towel.

"Cool! Showering buddies!" Hana said, not losing any of her enthusiastic energy. Akira sighed and headed into one of the showers. She was relieved that some hot water was still left after Setsuki and Emi's shower, cleaning away the dirt that had clung to her body. Hana seemed to be amusing herself by letting water fall into her open mouth, gargling loudly and spitting into the drain. "Awww yeh! This is the life!" Hana exclaimed.

"Do you know if they have any shampoo?" Akira asked, when suddenly a voice startled her.

"We have Monokuma brand shampo-" Monokuma began to speak, until a high pitched shriek came from Akira, who decided to go for a running kick on the bear, making it bounce off the ceiling and land on the floor face first.

"NO MONOKUMAS IN THE SHOWERS! WE'RE NAKED IN HERE YOU GIANT LITTLE PERVERT!" Akira shouted.

"Hey now! Need I remind you that under Regulation #8 of Enoshima University, violence against Dean Monokuma is strictly prohibited! Besides, I was just pointing out the shampoo! You asked!" Monokuma objected.

"I WAS ASKING HANA! NOT YOU! AKIRA KAZUE REGULATION #2, VIOLENCE AGAINST PEEPING IS NOT ONLY ALLOWED, BUT ENCOURAGED!" she shouted back.

"B-but.. I'm not a pervert." Monokuma said, his voice false quivering with sadness.

"OUT! NOW! THANKS FOR THE SHAMPOO! GO AWAY!" Akira kept shouting, Monokuma soon running off.

"Wow, that was pretty cool, Akira! Didn't think anyone could boss around Monokuma." Hana said.

"There's no place for perverts in this world. I swear this upon my grandmother's grave." She said, pumping a fist and puffing her chest out proudly.

"Yeah! Get dunked, Monokuma!" Hana shouted in agreement.

"Why do you always say that? Why does everyone get dunked?" Akira asked.

"Huh? Oh, my coach would say it all the time. He'd say it whenever one of us didn't have enough mojo. To him, it meant "you're not at your best, you're getting beaten to easily, get better or get dunked." He just shortened it to "Get Dunked" because that was a mouthful to say. I'm actually a little too short to dunk, so I usually won by getting lots of 3 pointers." Hana explained, grabbing a shampoo bottle and lathering up her hair.

"Huh… didn't think of it that way… our instructor at the Academy usually just yelled at us. I tried girl's volleyball for a while. But the coach told me I was too accident prone to be on her team. I was so sad about it that I cried for 3 days." Akira replied, gently unraveling her ponytail to wash her hair better.

"Ah, don't worry about it. It just meant you didn't have the mojo yet to overcome your two left feet." Hana replied.

"Mojo?" Akira asked.

"Hell yeh! Mojo! Determination! Motivation! Drive! Go juice! Sports are about failing like… 300 million times until you will yourself to do everything perfectly." Hana said, rinsing out the shampoo. "You keep up your spirits and keep running, keep jumping, keep fighting and you'll be able to do anything!"

Hana getting excited about her days training for the basketball team made Akira softly smile, as she turned off the water, walking over to the towel booth and wrapping it around herself for modesty as she waited for Hana to finish her own shower.

"Let's all have a little mojo for getting out of here, alright? Monokuma's time limit is just to get a rise out of us. If we just trust each other, we'll make it out." Akira said, Hana turning to her and nodding gently as she got a towel as well.

"This is my first shower here, can you help me re-braid my hair…?" Hana asked, showing that the braids in her hair secured with beads were removed. Akira looked curious, reaching down to softly slide a finger through her bright pink hair.

"My mom usually helped me braid it, she thought it made me unique. I miss my mom." Hana said, looking at the floor. Akira just smiled, gently walking her over to where their fresh set of clothing was so they could both get dressed.

"Sure, why not? We'll get dressed and get your hair done up back in your dorm room, alright?" Akira offered, Hana nodding gently as the two of them went upstairs to Hana's room. Akira redid the braids in her hair, despite it taking about an hour since Akira was never good at managing her own hair, but the experience was fun enough that she didn't mind it.

After getting done with Hana, Akira decided to do a quick dinner, and get some more sleep for the next day.


	7. Chapter 1: Daily Life 5

Chapter 1: Intentions of Hope Daily Life 5

Kenji had been on autopilot since last last night when Monokuma announced there would be a time limit for the killing game to start, since he was getting bored. Knowing that the doors were unlocked didn't really bother him that much since he was a pretty heavy sleeper, but could be easily woken up by certain noises. But… the fact he was even in this situation was dawning on him.

Why was he here? Did he do anything bad and this is some way of punishing his actions? Was he secretly evil and just acquired amnesia at a convenient time for him to forget? Chaos started to fill his head, people around him fighting and feeling like he's a fish slowly approaching a lure. The whole concept made him sick, all he wanted to do was go back home, kick back and watch a movie like he always did on the weekends.

"Yo, Kenji." A voice called out, but Kenji couldn't hear it. "Kenji!" The voice shouted, breaking Kenji from his stupor. Kenji was sitting in the dining hall at a table, casually knocking around a piece of fish with his fork. He looked across the row from him to see Haru, the mountain of a man looking concerned, along with the carefree gaze of his dog, Kiko. Kenji shook his head, looking at him.

"Yeah, Haru? Sorry, I'm just feeling a little tired." Kenji said apologetically, Haru pointed down to his plate, making Kenji look down as well.

"You gonna eat your fish, man? It's starting to get cold." He asked, Kenji looked at his plate and saw a grilled fish fillet, seasoned with lemon juice, olives, and a side of grilled green onions. He didn't even eat a single bite of food, he was just sliding it back and forth on his plate, he didn't even sip any of his glass of sparkling water.

"Oh. Sorry… I just have a lot of my mind right now." Kenji said, trying to get past the mopey feeling he had. From the corner of the room he saw Emi leaning behind a wall, gesturing and mouthing the word 'Kenji' to try and signal him to come talk to her. "Hey, Emi wants to go talk to me. Do you mind if you finish my meal for me?" Kenji said, gently scooting his tray across the table and lifting from his seat.

"No problem bro. But don't be skippin' meals like this! You need protein to keep your motor running. If you don't eat your meat, you won't get any pudding!" Haru criticized, but Kenji just sighed and gave a chuckle.

"I'll be fine for now. I might get a snack later from a vending machine." He said, before tucking his hands into his pockets and walking over to Emi, who was still hiding behind the wall near the hallway leading to the main entrance.

"Hey Kenji." Emi said with a quiet voice, almost trying to whisper to him. Kenji looked confused by this, just tilting his head slightly as he looked back to his seat. Haru was picking the meal apart a bit to give Kiko a good portion of the fish without letting her over eat.

"What's up, Emi? Why are you so whispery sounding?" Kenji asked, but Emi looked left and right with insecure eyes, before looking at him.

"I wanted to talk to you about something that just happened to me. Do you remember that weird gap in the wall where we thought a door was?" she asked, Kenji thinking for a brief second before recalling.

"That one right next to the workshop, right? What about it?" Kenji asked back, Emi gently taking him by a hand and slowly walking him out into the main hall of the building.

"I saw someone use it." She revealed, which made Kenji's eyes widen. "W-wait! Someone used it? Who was it?" Kenji asked, concerned. But Emi just held a finger to her lips, gesturing him to keep his voice down.

"I wasn't at the best angle to see it, Kenji. I was heading up to the workshop to help make a bookshelf for Shiro, when I saw the back of the door ajar. I couldn't see who it was, but I saw them walk in and close the door!" Emi announced, but Kenji mirrored her gesture to keep her quiet since she began to raise her voice as well.

"So. What do you think this means, Emi?" Kenji asked as she slowly walked him up the stairs, leading him to the third floor where the entrance they suspected was.

"I think the answer is… One of the people in this school is aware of these, and is able to pass to and from them as they please. They might be behind this whole thing." Emi said, reaching into her toolkit and grabbing a small putty knife. Gently sliding along the edges of the door and stopping when she hit the right side of it. "Here's the first hinge."

She passed over the blockage with her thin putty knife, sliding it lower and gently hitting another piece of metal. "Here's another hinge. It appears to open outward like I said. The only question is.. Where's the handle?" She asked, pushing her hand along the other side to see if she can pull it open.

"You sure like trying to get into doors Monokuma asks you not to open, huh…" Kenji complained, but Emi looked back at him with a frustrated look on her face.

"I'm not gonna let that little bastard win. He must be piloted by someone, and I'm thinking possibly that whatever may be behind this door could possibly lead to the pilot of the little bear robot." Emi shot back, but Kenji just sighed.

"Starting tomorrow morning Emi, you and I will take food from the kitchen, park ourselves right here out of view and see if anyone uses this door. Does that sound good?" Kenji asked, getting a soft smile from Emi in response.

"Yeah, that's perfect! Let's smoke out the baddie together, as a team." Emi said, giving a cute hop and a quick hug of Kenji's side as she headed back down stairs. "Thank you for helping me so much, Kenji. You rock." she said as she left. Kenji smiled softly, but still felt rather tired. However, something hit him as she walked off.

"Wait! Why did you make a bookshelf for Shiro?" he asked.

"He needed it, so I made it! I'm trying to get on his good side!" Emi called from the steps.

Kenji shrugged, doubting Shiro even had a good side. He went back down stairs to the second floor, heading to a vending machine, slipping two Monocoins into the slot and picking two things. A small bag of chips, and a container of milk. He took them into his dorm room, quickly ate them, and decided to go to bed before Monokuma's night time announcement began. If he was going to do a stakeout with Emi tomorrow, he would need to get enough rest to keep his attention on the prize.

His eyes closed, he slowly fell asleep, luckily before the bell went off and kept him awake any longer. That was, until a sound woke him up.

 _THUMP._

Kenji opened an eye and sat up, feeling a rush to his head from the sudden movement, making him dizzy. The strange thing was… the thump sounded like it came from above him. He slowly climbed out of bed, got up, and walked to the front door of his dorm room, grabbing it and pushing the lock to unlock it. But only then he realized… That meant both Shiro would have a log of him leaving his room that night, and that his door would be unlocked right now.

Kenji hesitated, slowly walking back over to his bed and sitting on the edge of it thinking. "S-should I go?" Kenji asked himself, clutching his bed, he was worried that someone may have laid a trap on him to get him to wander outside of his room. Minutes passed, before he head a knock on his door.

"Yoooo! Kenji! You up? I'm gonna check what that noise was! Can you come with me?" A voice rang out from the other side of his door. From the voices Kenji's memorized… it could only have been Yukata.

"Yukata!?" Kenji said, running over to the door and quickly opening it to see Yukata standing in front of him, his spiky hair messier than normal looking, and him clad in a pair of pajama pants covered in playing card patterns and a T-shirt.

"Did you hear a bang sound, Kenji?" Yukata asked him, Kenji reluctantly nodding at him.

"The weird part was… I heard it above us." Kenji said, Yukata looking down and rubbing his chin out of curiosity.

"Yeah… I heard from Monokuma last night that the rooms are sound proof from each other… But may not be sound proof above, or below the room." Yukata said, turning to the staircase and steeling himself to climb up them.

"That means… It would have to have came from above, Kenji! Thanks for letting me know." He said, walking cautiously up the stairs, until he heard a voice yell at him.

"Hey, Yukata!" Emi shouted from the top of the stairs. She was a bit hard to see thanks to the angle of the railing. Kenji followed Yukata halfway up the stairs, to see Emi standing in the hall mopping the floor.

"What are you doing out? It's after 10. Akira would be very upset with you, y'know!." Yukata shouted up at her, but Emi just sighed, looking at the ground. "More importantly, are you okay!?" he added, getting a reserved nod from Emi in response.

"I couldn't sleep. So I went into the workshop to clean up the place. I was taking sawdust out in a garbage bag after making Shiro's bookshelf, but I slipped and dropped it. There's sawdust everywhere up here, so I'm using a mop to wash it off." She said, Kenji taking another step up the stairs to see indeed she was mopping sawdust on the ground.

"Do you want some help, Emi?" Kenji asked, but Emi shook her head gently.

"Nah… I'm good, Kenji. If you guys headed up here now, you would just track more sawdust everywhere and make my job harder. Remember, the floor is wet from the mop!" she shot back, looking over the balcony as Kenji seemed lost in thought.

"I'm sorry if I scared you guys with me tripping like that since everyone's on edge right now. But I promise I'll clean this up really quick and go back to bed." Emi said with an awkward smile. Yukata just turned around and walked down the stairs.

"Welp, mystery solved. I'm gonna catch more Z's." Yukata said, casually waving goodbye as he went back to his room.

"Goodnight, Emi." Kenji said, turning away from her as she continued to mop sawdust off the floor. "Remember to stay safe, it's dangerous to be out here at night like this." he said, walking back down the stairs and back to his bedroom.

"Goodnight, Kenji!" Emi shouted back at him, continuing what she was doing.

Kenji went to bed, his heart was racing after that scare, he thought something was wrong but… He guessed everything was fine. So he just counted backwards from 100, which calmed his system and he slowly began to fall asleep.

His sleep was surprisingly calm and pleasant, but a particular bell woke him up at a time his body's biological clock woke him up with an unexpected announcement.

 _Ping Pong, Pong Ping_

"A body has been discovered!" Monokuma announced in a chipper tone, but Kenji didn't hear that right, he rolled up from bed and groaned, on the monitor, Monokuma was holding a glass of wine in his cartoonish bear paws. "After a few hours, A Class Trial will be held, and all surviving students must meet me at the entrance of the school!" He said, before turning closer to the camera, ending on an ominous "Good luck~" before the screen turned to black.

"Did I hear that right…?" Kenji thought to himself, before he heard the door banging viciously.

"Kenji! Get down here! Please! It's important!" Hana shouted through the door. Kenji felt a shiver in his spine from remembering last night. He left Emi out there on her own. She could be in danger. He didn't even bother getting an outfit on, running to the door and opening it to see Hana, tears streaming down her face.

K-Kenji!" She said, running up and giving him a hug. Kenji was startled, leaning back a bit and returning the hug.

"Hana? What happened!?" Kenji asked, Hana grabbing him by the wrist and leading him downstairs to the main hall, where most of the other students were standing. Kenji looked up at the clock, seeing it was only 5:23 in the morning.

Kenji looked as Haru ran past him, holding his mouth to refrain from vomiting, brushing Kenji's shoulder as he took a deep breath, closing his eyes and walking into the bathroom, opening his eyes to Setsuki, frozen still with a towel wrapped around her body and a shocked look on her face. He didn't want to turn his head to match her gaze. He didn't want to see what she saw.

But he had no choice, he looked.

In the center of the shower room, he was Rio Daisuke resting face first on the ground, the back of his skull absolutely smashed open to the point he could see chunks of his brain and remnants of his skull on the bathroom floor, sitting in a huge puddle of water, the blood seeping into the water and turning it slowly red, he was almost unrecognizable from the damage, but he could tell it was him by his leather jacket and longer, lanky build.

"DAISUKE!" Kenji shouted, running across the pool of water to get closer to the body, but he slipped, landing on his face a few feet in front of where he started. Airi reached over, grabbing him by the collar and stood him back up onto his feet.

"Don't run, the place is flooded, you moron." she scolded, but Kenji just looked back at her with a shocked look on his face.

"How can you be calm at a time like this, he needs medical attention!" Kenji shouted, but Shiro spoke from behind him.

"He's already dead." Shiro stated, adjusting his glasses before giving a soft sigh in response. "And Monokuma gave us only a few hours to investigate before the trial. We need to cover this place, and possibly investigate the rest of the building so we can come to a conclusion." He explained, Kenji was just shocked to the point he couldn't even speak. Thankfully, Akira was there for him.

"We should explore the school, try and see if we can learn more about the murder. One of us should be… involved in investigating the body." Akira stated, eyes on the floor because she wanted the last image of Rio in her head to be the smiling, helpful Rio. Not… this.

"R-right… I'll look through the shower room…" Kenji said,trying to steel his nerves a bit. He clenched and unclenched his hands, breathing hard as he looked away from the body.

"Okay…" Akira said. "We're going to need someone to stand guard so no one attempts to tamper with the crime scene." she said, Reiko stepping forward.

"I'll do it. Anyone comes near the body's getting nails in their head." she said, gripping her bat tightly and turning to the assembled crowd. "You got that?!"

Everyone nodded as Reiko took her place. Kenji waded through the water, holding his nose to keep the scent of blood from hitting his nostrils to no avail. It was putrid, smelling like a mix of raw meat, tainted copper and like a tide just rolled in. He wanted to puke, but… investigating this was his job. He had to find out who killed him.


	8. Chapter 1: Deadly Life

Intentions of Hope: Deadly Life.

Kenji began to investigate the shower room as the other students were barred from the room by Reiko. He first started with the body, getting a closer look at it made him feel even more queasy than before. The blood soaked water was seeping into his shoes, but the musty, steam filled air made it almost impossible to breath except for the air of corpse. The strange thing he noticed was Rio's outfit. He was still in his clothes, why would he be wearing clothes while in the shower room?

He slowly began to parade around the room, looking to see if there was any indication that there was a murder there, but the strange thing was there… Didn't seem to be any other objects coated in blood in that bathroom. The first thing though, he heard the water running, with all the steam, the water had to be coming from somewhere.

Eventually, he saw water flowing from two shower heads in the room, turned all the way to hot. Water was slowly pouring over the edge of the showers, causing the pool of water on the floor. Kenji calmly turned both shower heads off, expecting the water to drain, but it didn't. He looked at the drain, seeing something strange at the bottom.

"Weird…" He muttered, sliding his hand into the water, gripping what was plugging the drain and pulling it out, causing the water to finally begin draining from the shower floor, but leaving water left surrounding Rio's body. He inspected what was plugging one of the drains, it appeared to be a wet towel, hastily stuffed into the drain to fill it full of water.

But the question was… Why flood the shower room? Did they want Rio to slip? He decided to save the questions, slowly padding around the room until he found a door that he wasn't familiar with. "Hey! Does anyone back there know about a door leading to somewhere past the shower room?" He shouted back at the group, Akira replying after thinking for a minute.

"That's a trash room. Be sure to check that too for evidence!" Akira shouted across to him, he nodded, pushing his hand against the door and opening the door to the trash room. In front of him was a dumpster, filled with garbage bags, along with some strange objects that caught his attention.

First was a bag of sawdust, that must have what Emi spilled after trying to take out the remnants of Shiro's bookshelf. Though, the thing that was strange was next to it was three bolts, with nuts wrapped around each one. The bolts were covered with a strange white powder, that he didn't understand.

He approached the bolts, picking them up and rolling one side to side in his fingers, the powder began to cover the finger he was inspecting it with, making him curious. "What is this powder…?" Kenji asked himself, before looking up at the dumpster to find another strange detail.

A speck of red substance on the side of the dumpster. It looked like dried ketchup at a glance, but… Who would throw away a bunch of ketchup, Throwing away his better judgement, he slid a finger across it and and picked some up on his pointer finger. When it was close enough to his face… It was definitely blood.

Kenji had a lot of questions, but not a lot of answers. Why was there blood in this dumpster, and why were all the drains plugged up like that? Was this murder premeditated?

Kenji approached the entrance, looking at Reiko and Akira standing together and walking past him, using a wet towel to wash the blood off his hands as the group of people looked at him. "D-did you find out how he died?" Hana asked, but Kenji looked down, shaking his head. 

"N-no. There wasn't a weapon. My only guess is that he slipped. But… I don't think there's enough here to ever possibly know what happened." He stated, Akira softly rubbing her chin in thought.

"Look… We should search the building, see if we can find any other clues. Crime scenes often have more that people don't want us to see at a crime scene that they might overlook unless they inspect the whole area." Akira stated, looking to the group of people.

"The three people who saw the body first have to stay here, everyone else… Form pairs of two to investigate the building!" She exclaimed, but was met with a question by Bam.

"Where is each of us supposed to go?" he asked, but Akira gently began to look at the groups.

"The kitchen and dining room isn't open, and so is the gymnasium, so investigating those right now seems irrelevant, we can discard those." Akira said, beginning to eliminate the areas people need to investigate.

"Shiro and Yukiji will investigate the library. Akami and I will investigate the workshop, Reiko and Haru will search the workout room and classrooms. Airi and Yukata will investigate Rio's Dorm. Hana, Setsuki, and Miho will stay here to answer Kenji's questions." She concluded, but Emi had a question.

"What about Bam and I?" She asked, but Akira already had an idea. "Haru is clearly distressed by this… Keep him company for a while, and promise not to get in anyone else's way during the investigation." She added.

"And what assistance will I be?" Dahlia asked, raising a hand so Akira would notice her. Akira drew a blank, she wouldn't really have anyone to help her investigate.

"Uhh… Search the other dorm rooms, see if you can find anything useful." She asked, Dahlia shrugging and heading off as the group dispersed, Akira waiting for Akami to approach her so they can walk off as well.

Kenji was left with the three women in front of him, and decided to ask the big question that was bothering him.

"Who found the body first?" He asked, but Setsuki was still completely horrified, and couldn't respond, so Miho responded for her.

"Setsuki did… Hana has a tradition of showering early in the morning to wake her up, she and I both thought it was a good idea, so… We decided to go with her. She screamed, and we both ran in to see Rio there… dead." Miho said, her eyes sullen as she spoke.

Hana then spoke up next. "The water was still flooded in the shower when we got there, so… I thought he slipped. I ran up to get you, but by the time you were awake, everyone else was there." Hana added, Kenji nodding as he gently walked up, putting a hand on Setsuki's shoulder.

"Is she okay? She's still in a towel." Kenji mentioned, Miho just softly shaking her head.

"She saw the body and froze. I don't really know any good way to wake her up from… whatever the fuck this is." Miho mentioned, gently walking in front of Setsuki and gently slapping each side of her head. "Wake up, ya dork. We need you for the trial! Can you at least put your pants on before Monokuma shows up?"

Setsuki then fell back, fainting on the floor. Miho just sighed, shaking her head and looking up at Kenji. "Hey… Can I get her to her bedroom? I'll try and wake her out of… this before the class trial starts. She might be very little help to us, though." Miho stated, Kenji just quietly sighed, agreeing as Hana and Miho lifted her up. Setsuki's body was stiff as a board, so they had to haul her like a plank or a small ladder up the stairs.

"I hope Akira and everyone else can come up with something… I have a headache." Kenji said, rubbing his temples.

Akira made it to the top of the staircase, Akami in tow, though he was a bit slower than her and. Stumbled as he tried to match her dash up the stairs. The other groups began to explore the rest of the building, as Akira dashed her way into the workshop to investigate.

She pulled out her notebook as Akami slowly stepped in just after her, inspecting the room slowly as she read. "This place is… weird. I haven't been in here before." Akami said, looking back at her.

"It smells like glue and burnt wood in here. I hate it." He complained, as Akira softly began to count under her breath each thing she saw in the room. Akira looked up and asked Akami a question.

"Akami, could you do me a favor and open all the drawers in the room? I want to go through them and count them really quick." She said, Akami looking confused by this before she cleared things up. "If the killer took a tool from here… Then we'll know what it is by cross referencing the data with my initial inventory."

"A-alright." He replied, cautiously strolling to the tool drawers and sitting on both his knees, softly opening each drawer one at a time as Akira inspected the rest of the room. Sitting on a workbench was a long wire, but something was strange about it. One end was tied into a slipknot, the other was tied in a square knot, attached to a loop on the other side.

She began to look at it, as Akami continued to pull out drawer after drawer. "Did you really count all these? What kind of weird OCD do you even have?" He criticized, but Akira just sighed.

"Hey, paperwork is 85% of police work. Making sure everything's in order means you can save costs by doing proper procedure and inventory." She refuted, Akami sighing as he continued the menial task.

As she counted, she noticed something strange. Every single wrench on the wall was missing, leaving a dust coated outline of each wrench where they were supposed to be. Why were all the wrenches missing?

Leaving Akami to his boring stupid drawer task, she went around the room, before finding a box surrounded with sawdust. She curiously leant down to inspect the box, opening it up to reveal… all the wrenches that were originally on the walls.

"Who moved these?" Akira asked softly, trying to lift the box of wrenches without removing any, but it proved to be far too heavy to actually lift on her own. The wrenches were made of heavy iron and steel, there would be no way to carry this… It would have to have been dragged to its spot.

She pulled out a wrench, inspecting it and noticing that there seemed to be little spots of dried soap on each one, leaving little white outlines near the handles that brush off as she held them.

"Akira! I'm done opening stupid drawers." Akami said, standing up and stepping to the side to let her do her thing. She walked over, checking each drawer and methodically checking on each one as Akami slowly walked out of the room.

"Yukiji?" Akami said quietly from outside of the room, though Akira could still easily hear him from this distance.

"Shiro didn't want me around. He said me being there in the library with him was making him dumber." He said, trying to fight a sniffle as he said it. Akami just quietly and gently patted him on the shoulder.

"He's a dick, that's sort of par for the course on his part. Do you wanna help us out?" Akami asked, Akira still too focused counting to participate in the conversation. Yukiji nodding gently and looking around the hallway where they were standing, until he noticed something.

"Akira! Get over here!" Yukiji said, Akira quickly leaving a note where she left off before she ran outside to see what Yukiji had noticed. He was pointing a finger lazily at the wall.

"Did these holes always belong here?" Yukiji asked, pointing to the holes drilled into the wall. Akira's eyes widened as she walked up, inspecting each hole.

They had white drywall powder around each hole, and were about the same thickness as her pointer finger. The 5 holes in the wall were arranged in the shape of a crudely drawn N, her eyes followed the outline, leading up to a small shelf oversitting the hallway, not big enough to put anything there that would be overly huge, like a body or a bicycle, but if someone were to store a box, or a bucket it could just barely fit up there.

"Who drilled these holes…?" Akira asked herself, before turning back to her drawers, quickly finishing up her inventory and realizing two things wrong.

"Did you find anything new, Akira?" Akami asked, dragging Yukiji by the wrist to get the chessmaster to follow him into the room with her. Akira stood up, thinking deeply.

"I found two things. There is a bunch of small wheels in the wrong drawer, and there is about 5 screws missing." She explained, which made Akami think.

"Do you think the screws might match the number of holes there are in the wall?" He asked, which Akira responded with a nod.

"There has to be… Why would these happen at the same time, if they aren't related?" Akira added, but then looked to Yukiji. "Is there anything important you could tell me before I move on from this room, Yukiji?" She asked.

Yukiji nodded, gently thumbing his lip. "I told you about that feeling of someone breathing down my neck yesterday, right?" He asked, Akira nodding. "It happened again. But this time, I heard my door open before it happened!" He said, which made Akira look at him in shock.

"Did you see who opened your door!?" She asked, nearly shouting, but Yukiji gently shook his head. "N-no… I got scared, so I just did my usual thing." He explained, but Akira raised a brow in question.

"Usual thing?" She asked, but he looked at the floor, poking his pointer fingers together.

"I curled up into a ball. Not my proudest moment." He said, before the bell rang again.

 **Ding Dong, Bing Bong.**

 _"Attention students, I usually give you a lil more time to investigate things before I call you to a class trial, but all of you were investigating machines! After a short breakfast, please meet me in the main hall for the class trial. Attendance is MANDATORY! So don't skip out, okay?"_

Monokuma announced that the investigation was wrapping up, so Akira just sighed, taking Akami and Yukiji back downstairs for breakfast.

Breakfast was quiet, painfully quiet. The mood everyone had was gone, any camaraderie, any friendship was missing. There was no enjoyment, only function and preparation for what would come next. Shiro was poring over the pink Monopad, looking through the times over and over.

Emi and Haru were leaning against the wall in complete silence. Miho was trying to feed Setsuki a taco, getting mild responses from her while Hana watched. Kenji was running his fingers in his hair as Yukata ate cereal in the most depressing way someone could eat cereal.

Bam was silent, along with Dahlia. Airi was brooding in the corner. Kiko was asleep on Haru's lap, Haru gently scratching her head. Akami was patiently applying eyeshadow on his face as a way to distract himself from what happened, and Yukiji was left alone with Akira. Reiko tapped her bat against the floor, eyeing everyone as if waiting for one of them to snap.

"It's like high noon in here!" Monokuma said, breaking the mood up in the room and causing everyone to snap their attention to him. "Put em up, partner!" Monokuma shouted, but got literally no response from anyone else in the room.

"Ah, come on! You're all acting like someone died here!" Monokuma shouted, getting furious glares from the room. "Tough crowd…" Monokuma said, pretending to pull at his own collar.

"I guess it's about that time, ain't it? Please meet in the center of the main hall." He said, before dashing out into the next room. Akira slowly stood up, walking to the exit of the dining hall, but in her head it felt like she was walking to a gallows.

"If we get this wrong, that's it. Someone in here wants us to fail this trial and get caught." Akira said to herself, looking at everyone in the room before walking to the facade of Monokuma on the emblem in the center of the room. It whirred, opening to reveal a pink colored platform.

"Everybody on!" Monokuma said, hopping onto the platform and waiting for the others to stand on the elevator with him. Everyone took slow steps, a stillness in the air, seeing the smiling visage of Junko as they got onto the platform. A click echoed in the building, as the platform slowly began to sink foot by foot into the ground, a tunnel with a light every few feet lighting them up and passing by them.

Kenji approached Emi, gently looking at her. "So, this is it, huh?" He asked, she looking at the floor and nodding. "Kenji… No matter what happens. Promise me that we'll make it through this together, alright?" She said, looking up at him with a tear forming in her eye.

Kenji smiled at her, reassuringly. "Don't worry about it, everything should be fine. We'll find out who's keeping us here and win, right?" he said, lying more to himself. Right now, everything was so confusing. Someone had killed one of the nicest people in the University and there were no leads. There were suspicions, but nothing that he could confirm from what he seen. Akira might have something, but she had no confidence, and didn't seem to know what any of the things she learned will help either.

Shiro knew things, but had been tight-lipped since the investigation started, he was worried if he told anyone anything, he would have to start suspecting someone. Kenji wished none of them were guilty. Looking at everyone as the elevator dropped down, the wave of sadness seemed to fade, only leaving a haze of confusion and nervousness. Even the muzak Monokuma blared through the speakers seemed to fade to echoes and white noise in his head.

As the elevator landed with a chime, Monokuma spoke up. "Ah! Almost forgot! The important factor of every investigations and class trial! Iiiiit's… the Monokuma File!" he said, pulling out a file folder emblazoned with his face on it.

"It's actually not in this document. I just updated your student handbooks if you actually want to check it. This is more just a prop." Monokuma commented with a shrug.

Kenji took out the handbook, reading the Monokuma file now uploaded onto it.

Monokuma File #1  
Rio Daisuke  
The victim was found in the shower room at 5:00AM  
The estimated time of death is ?  
The cause of death was a single blow to the back of the head, killing him instantly.  
There seems to be no other wounds visible on his body.

Kenji guessed this may be important depending on how the trial goes.

 _The sun rises on the class trial, and when it sets, another one of us will be dead, and our lives will be changed forever._


	9. CLASS TRIAL 1

**CLASS TRIAL! ALL RISE!**

 _The students are taken to a large room resembling a courtroom, with 16 podiums standing in a circle facing each other. One of them had a stand with Rio's face on it, crossed out crudely with a marker. Monokuma was sitting on the judge's chair, but it looked more like a throne. Besides him was a large flat screen TV with the university logo on it. Kenji and Akira were facing each other, Shiro was on Kenji's right, and Kenji was facing Monokuma. The 15 remaining students finally approached their podiums, as Monokuma began to speak._

 **Monokuma:** Allow me to call this Class Trial into session! Before we begin, allow me to begin with a basic explanation of the class trial! During the trial, you will be presenting your arguments over a simple question of 'Whodunnit'? At the end of the trial, or the end of the countdown monitor placed to my side, a vote will be called.

 **Monokuma Cont'd:** If the majority is successful in voting for the correct student, the Blackened will be punished. But, if you vote for the wrong one? All students besides the blackened will be punished instead, which will result in the Blackened graduating the school, and escaping back to the outside world.

 **Monokuma Cont'd:** If you refuse to vote, you will be dealt with. As in… You'll die. So remember to vote, everybody! So, let's get this totally radical, dopalicious, something something class trial underway!

 **Shiro Kiruma:** I'll start this with a simple question, Monokuma. Will you abide to my request?

 **Monokuma:** Sure, but I'm not here to hold your hand, so any questions you have will have to be good ones.

 **Shiro Kiruma:** Understood. _Shiro Clears his throat_ If Rio Daisuke's cause of death was an accident, his own fault… Who would we vote for?

 **Monokuma:** Okay, I can actually answer that one! If Rio's death was something that nobody else interfered in, Rio would be the one you vote for. But if Rio's accident was caused by sabotage, then you would have to vote for the one who did the sabotaging.

 **Shiro Kiruma:** Understood. And allow me to lead that into my follow up question.

 **Monokuma:** I'm alllll ears. Bear ears that is. Wait… That wasn't actually a pun. Continue, Shiro.

 **Shiro Kiruma:** _sarcastic_ Right. As I perused the Monokuma File I realized something was off. The time of death. You've written the time of the body's discovery, but you left the time of Rio's death ambiguous. Why is that?

 **Monokuma:** Here's a good rule of thumb for all the trials from this point onward, Kiruma. If I leave out a detail on the Monokuma file, It's a detail I feel like that should be discussed by you guys. Telling you when this particular time happened, would mean you wouldn't have to check alibis later. And that would be boring.

 **Kenji Taisei:** So, I guess that means the time of death would be a mystery for now. I think the thing we should do first is… probably discuss the details of his death that we know of from the Monokuma file.

 **Akira Kazue:** Right, I guess we'll start with events chronologically, and increase the depth of the conversation from there. Setsuki?  
 **  
Setsuki Yori** : …

 **Akira Kazue:** Oh right, I forgot. Sorry. She's still not all there just yet.

 **Hana Okamoto:** I guess that means I'll have to talk for her, then. Ever since I started the junior high school basketball team, I always made it a habit to shower pretty early in the day, since it wakes me up and gets me focused before my instructor's drills. Setsuki and Miho wanted to try it out, since we've been hanging out a lot more recently.

 **Hana Okamoto Cont'd:** I woke up around 4:45 this morning, Setsuki was already awake, and Miho was tired, but we knocked on her door a few times, and she eventually came out of her dorm room, and agreed to shower with me.

 **Miho Ishii:** You didn't have to knock so damn hard. I'm not that heavy of a sleeper…

 **Hana Okamoto:** Shhhh. Lemme keep talkin', Miho! Setsuki got to the entrance of the shower room, which is the dressing room. She took off her clothes as we both showed up. When she walked into the shower, she saw Rio, and screamed.

 **Hana Okamoto Cont'd:** He was dead, in a pool of his own blood, mixed in with the water on the floor. Then I ran up stairs, waking up people until I got to Kenji, who was there last. Sorry Kenji, your dorm is the last in the hallway.

 **Yukata Watanabe:** But why was there water on the floor?

 **Hana:** Here's what I think happened.

 _The TV monitor lit up, showing the words DEBATE and a timer counting down from 30 minutes._  
 **  
Hana Okamoto Cont'd:** Rio wanted to shower even earlier than us! So he went to the shower room to get the sleep out of his eyes.

 **Hana Okamoto Cont'd:** He didn't know how long he was gonna be there, so the water started to get on the floor.

 **Hana Okamoto Cont'd:** He slipped, fell and hit his head on the shower, and that's how he died! It was an accident, probably.

 **Kenji Taisei: No, that's wrong!**  
 **  
Kenji Taisei Cont'd:** Hana… I don't think that's it. Did you see the position Rio was in when we found him? He was in the **center** of the room, and the wound was on the back of his head.

 **Kenji Taisei Cont'd:** To give him a wound like that, and make him fall forward implies something stuck the back of his head, causing him to fall forward, not the opposite.

 _The timer stopped at 29:01_

 **Hana Okamoto:** Monokuma, what's that timer?

 **Monokuma:** The debate timer! If someone is presenting an argument, I'll start a countdown clock to stop the conversation from running in circles. You can stop it at any time with the phrase 'No, That's wrong.' There is also a button on your podium, if you don't feel like saying it.

 **Hana Okamoto** : Oh. Okay!

 **Yukiji Chimon:** It kind of reminds me of a chess timer. You start the timer when it's your turn, and you stop it when you've completed your move, it prevents the game from taking too long, but still giving you time to think.

 **Bam Takahashi:** An impressive first counter by Kenji Taisei! Will Hana bounce back from the cold hard fact SMACKDOWN that Kenji's gonna lay on her!?

 **Kenji Taisei:** W-what!? I wasn't trying to beat her in a conversation, I was just trying to correct her…

 **Hana Okamoto:** Oh yeah? OH YEAH?! Well, if he didn't slip on the floor, then what was with the water on the floor?!

 **Kenji Taisei:** Hana, why are you shouting at me!?

 **Hana Okamoto:** YOU'RE JUST AFRAID TO BE DUNKED BY MY BRAAAAIN!

 **Kenji Taisei:** _Sighs  
_ _ **  
**_ **Yukata Watanabe:** Regardless of how… weirdly competitive this conversation is getting. I think Hana has a good question. Why is there so much water collecting on the floor near Rio? Why is it happening?

 **Miho Ishii:** Well, it's like Hana said. Rio left the shower running and the water pooled. When he slipped and died, he couldn't turn it off, meaning the water would collect in the room.

 **Kenji Taisei:** No, I don't think that's it. When I checked the shower room,, Rio actually had his clothes on. Why would he be showering with his clothes on, or slip afterward?

 **Hana Okamoto:** He got his clothes on, then slipped!

 **Airi Kudo:** Kenji knows why the water was pooling in the room, I wish he would actually explain these things instead of letting a roundtable of stupid happen.

 **Reiko Ono:** WANNA TALK SHIT, KUDO? I DON'T SEE YOU DOING ANYTHING USEFUL!

 **Airi Kudo:** I'm not 'talking shit' I'm saying Kenji should know why the water was collecting in the room. He was in charge of investigating it, and I saw him drying his hands off with a towel on his way out.

 **Kenji Taisei:** Yeah, Airi's right… despite how she's speaking. I know how the water collected in the room.

 **Kenji Taisei Cont'd:** In two of the showers, there were towels stuffed down their drains, then the water was turned on so it would pool on the floor.

 **Miho Ishii:** Does that mean we have to rule out an accident, if someone flooded the room and caused him to slip? I've taken back bumps before, but that was something waaaay more fierce.

 **Akira Kazue:** So… he slipped in the shower after someone sabotaged it? Who could have done that?

 **Shiro Kiruma:** I have an idea of who.

 _The timer starts._

 **Shiro Kiruma:** One possibility is that Yori didn't wake up at 4:45 PM, Okamoto said when she woke up, Setsuki was already awake. Yori probably stuffed the towels down the drain, flooded the bathroom and caused him to slip and fall, then pretended to be surprised when she saw the result.

 **Emi Nakayama** : So, there's a chance that Setsuki did it?

 **Shiro Kiruma:** There's a larger than small likelihood that she may be the culprit, yes.

 **Airi Kudo: I can see through that!  
**

 _The Timer Stops at 27:53_

 **Airi Kudo:** Shiro, stop running the case around. You know why Setsuki couldn't have done it.

 **Shiro Kiruma:** Excuse me, Ms. Kudo?

 **Airi Kudo:** You heard me. When Monokuma gave us a motive, you took that fuschia colored Monopad that detailed who opened and closed the doors between the periods of 11PM and 1 AM.

 **Airi Kudo Cont'd** : If Setsuki went out of her room to setup the shower trap, then the logs would show if she left her room before Daisuke did, since it would require a few hours to pool that water around him.

 **Shiro Kiruma:** I was saving that for later, but fine. I will reveal the details of last night on my Monopad.

 _Shiro pulled out the pink Monopad, pressing a button to open the file, which automatically moved to the TV screen beside Monokuma.  
_  
Emi's Door Opens: 11:01 PM

Dahlia's Door Opens: 11:10 PM

Yukiji's Door Opens: 11:14 PM

Emi's Door Opens: 11:18 PM

Rio's Door Opens: 11:22 PM  
Emi's Door Opens: 11:24 PM

Yukata's Door Opens: 11:29 PM  
Kenji's door opens: 11:30 PM

Kenji's Door Opens: 11:34 PM  
Yukata's Door Opens: 11:34 PM

Emi's Door Opens: 11:44 PM  
Yukiji's Door Opens: 11:51 PM

Dahlia's Door Opens: 11:58 PM.  
Akira's Door Opens 12:35 AM  
Akira's Door Opens: 12:42 AM

 **Airi Kudo:** According to this, Setsuki either set the trap BEFORE the locks opened, or she was never in her room in the first place. If we can have anyone who knew where Setsuki was before 11 PM, then she would have an alibi to not set the trap.

 **Hana Okamoto:** Setsuki was with me before 11 PM.

 **Setsuki Yori:** ...We were getting ready to go to bed… Akira got done braiding Hana's hair, and she wanted to show it off to me while we got some exercise in the gym before Monokuma closed it at 10.

 **Haru Yamada:** She can talk! It's a miracle. 3  
 **  
Setsuki Yori:** After night time came, we said goodnight to each other, and went to our bedrooms before the unlock happened. I was asleep until 4 this morning… I would never think about killing Rio.

 **Shiro Kiruma:** It still could have happened in the 3 hour gap between 1 and 4, but Okamoto could at least vouch for you up until 10:30 PM.

 **Setsuki Yori:** …

 **Haru Yamada:** She broke again. Damn it...

 **Kenji Taisei:** Look… she might still be a suspect, but I want to discuss the case a bit more before I come to any more conclusions. Remember, the time of death is still in question.

 **Bam Takahashi:** And what about Officer Akira Kazue? The timekeeper has it recorded that she was the last to leave her room during the unlocked hours!

 **Hana Okamoto:** YEAH! IMMA EAT HER!

 **Akira Kazue:** ...Well, the thing is Rio would still be outside of his room by the time I left, since it never indicated that he went back inside. Where could he have stayed if there's only one staircase down to the ground floor shower room?

 **Bam Takahashi:** You coulda hid in a closet or something! Maybe you hid in that dumpster room Kenji brought up!

 **Hana Okamoto:** WE'LL GRIND YOUR BONES TO DUST!

 **Akira Kazue:** Well.. I didn't see him when I went downstairs to the bathroom.

 **Hana Okamoto:** WE WILL EAT YOUR FAMIL- wait, the downstairs bathroom? Doesn't your bathroom work? That's hella suspicious.

 **Dahlia Kurotsuki:** O~hohohoho. Well now, it would appear that our dear Officer Kazue is cast in the harsh spotlight of culpability. However, a dark savior bears the truth that will-

 **Airi Kudo:** Just get to the point, Dahlia. We don't have the time or the patience for vampire theatrics.

 **Dahlia Kurotsuki:** True, your mortal shells are fragile pawns of ongoing decay! As you may recall, Takahashi and I were assigned to investigate the dorm rooms.

 **Bam Takahashi:** I investigated the boy's dorms and Dahlia took the girl's!

 **Dahlia Kurotsuki:** Correct. And to all those breathing a sigh of relief that Takahashi did not rifle through your personal affects or decide to relieve himself in every women's bathroom out of an act of defiance… you may all thank me with eternal servitude.

 **Dahlia Kurotsuki Cont'd:** In my search through Akira's dorm, I had discovered that her toilet was indeed broken.

 **Akira Kazue:** Does my guilt really have to involve me going to the bathroom? I didn't sign up for this.

 **Dahlia Kurotsuki:** The handle's devotion to the task of causing the water to flush was broken off into a little stump, Akira placed it on the sink and now simply has to go downstairs to relieve herself.

 **Akira Kazue:** The toilets are designed like a school's toilets. There's no back tank, so I couldn't reach my hand in and pull the flap to allow the water to release.

 **Kenji Taisei:** Why isn't that something I heard before the trial as evidence?

 **Dahlia Kurotsuki:** I didn't think it would have became such an issue~ Tell me, Taisei. Are you often interested in the bathroom habits of young women? How deviant!

 **Kenji Taisei:** Wh-what?! No! But it would've solidified Akira's alibi!

 _Akira was reduced to mortified whines at this turn in the case_

 **Haru Yamada:** And if she left at 12:35 to poop, then she couldn't have had the time to set up the murder! Trust me, poopin' takes awhile!

 **Kiko:** Arf! Arf!

 **Monokuma:** Who let the dog in the trial room?! She is not an enrolled student of Enoshima University!

 **Haru Yamada:** Where I go, Kiko follows! You got a problem with that, Monokuma?

 **Monokuma:** She's a cotton ball with eyes! How is she going to contribute anything to the case?!

 _Kiko looked at Monokuma, eyes sparkling and head tilted._

 **Monokuma:** D'awww… lookit at the widdle- Damn it! She's distractingly adorable! Fine, the doggo stays!

 **Kenji Taisei:** Anyway… strange as it sounds, Akira's scot free.

 **Yukiji Chimon:** But then, if Akira was pooping in the downstairs bathroom, then who went into my room?

 **Shiro Kiruma:** I fail to see the relevance of your night terrors to this case, Chimon. We are here to solve a murder, not make the Boogeyman go away.

 **Miho Ishii:** Wait, so that wasn't you opening your door, Yukiji?

 **Yukiji Chimon:** No! Ever since Monokuma put in the unlocked doors thingy, I've been hearing this soft breathing in my room.

 **Shiro Kiruma:** You heard your own breath. Stop interrupting the trial for this nonsense. We have to focus on Daisuke's murder.

 **Kenji Taisei:** Wait, Shiro!

 **Shiro Kiruma:** Oh, don't tell me you want to know about Chimon's imaginary monsters as well, Taisei.

 **Kenji Taisei:** Look, if we figure this out, we can give Yukiji an alibi. The more alibis we have, the more clear the actual culprit will be.

 **Shiro Kiruma:** ...Go on.

 **Kenji Taisei:** ...Emi, do you have like a weird stalker crush on Yukiji? I don't see why but… guess I have to ask, don't I?

 **Emi Nakayama:** Wh-what?! No! Where would you even get such an idea, Kenji?!

 **Kenji Taisei:** I-I was looking at the door times! Yours was the first one to open, then Dahlia's and then Yukiji's!

 **Shiro Kiruma:** Consider your answer more carefully, Nakayama. The correct answer means you also have an alibi for the time of the murder.

 _There is a slight pause as Emi bit her lip in thought._

 **Emi Nakayama:** No! I wasn't stalking Yukiji!

 **Shiro Kiruma:** Hm, interesting. Then why did you leave your room twice in that 2 hour period?

 **Emi Nakayama:** When I got done making your bookcase, I had a lot of mess left over. There was sawdust everywhere. I realized that, and had to make my way back up to the workshop from my bedroom to sweep it up. A tidy workshop means you're a good carpenter, Shiro.

 **Yukiji Chimon:** Uh… but what about the stalker? We still haven't-

 **Shiro Kiruma:** Chimon! This little diversion of yours was amusing at first, but we have your door opening twice as well! And since I assume your toilet works-

 **Bam Takahashi:** Yukiji Chimon's bathroom is fully functional!

 **Shiro Kiruma:** Thank you, Takahashi. No further detail will be necessary.

 **Shiro Kiruma Cont'd:** Then that means that there is a time frame of over a half hour in which you could have commited the murder!

 _The timer starts_

 _ **Shiro Kiruma**_ _:_ Chimon had an opportune time to set up the murder of Daisuke, he stayed awake and used his excuse of a stalker to cover up the fact he could head to the showers BEFORE Rio got out of his room.

 **Shiro Kiruma:** If Chimon had about a 5 minute gap to head downstairs before Daisuke, he would start flooding the bathroom, the catalyst for Rio's death.

 **Shiro Kiruma:** It's too bad Chimon's so stupid for a chess genius, do you really expect me to believe that he has a stalker!?

 **Dahlia Kurotsuki: O~hohohoho! You have a tongue of serpent's venom!**

 _Timer stops at 25:31_

 **Dahlia Kurotsuki:** I will not allow you to impugn Yukiji's honor with your bile, Kiruma! This witch trial shall come to a halt!

 **Shiro Kiruma:** Kurotsuki! What are you blathering about?!

 **Dahlia Kurotsuki:** I speak of your accusation that such a pure creature such as Yukiji would be guilty of murder! Yukiji could not have acted for he never left his room the whole night!

 _At this, Akira broke from stupor of embarrassment._

 **Akira Kazue:** W-wait! Dahlia! How do you know Yukiji never left?

 **Dahlia Kurotsuki:** Ah... I must break my silence and confess the truth of my blackened heart! I was the one who entered Yukiji's room. I was watching over him, keeping guard of him in case one of you savages tried to steal him from me!

 _There is at least a minute of silence._

 **Reiko Ono** : CAN SOMEONE TELL ME WHY THE SHIT DAHLIA HAS A THING FOR YUKIJI? He's a pasty ass chess nerd!

 **Dahlia Kurotsuki:** He is a silent soul! A brilliant mind! It all began on that fateful day. When I awoke in the darkness of that metal coffin-

 **Yukata Watanabe:** _Confused_ It.. was a locker.

 **Dahlia Kurotsuki** : Silence, you cur! As I was saying, I had opened my eyes to see him through the blinds. His wispy ivory locks, his steely eyes blackened with a mist that hid his true intentions, his soft, hushed voice. He's an enigma wrapped with a red ribbon belonging to me!

 **Dahlia Kurotsuki Cont'd:** To lose him in this Killing Game, to go on for an eternity without seeing someone of his caliber. Locked in an endless mortal coil of flesh and stupidity. I could not dare fathom my life with another soul, none could possibly compare to one potential vampire lord such as him, WE WILL REIGN over this wretched world one day~!.

 _There was another minute of silence._

 **Yukiji Chimon:** ...Huh?

 **Dahlia Kurotsuki:** …O~hohohoho. Oh, Yukiji. Your innocence is so charming. Do not fret, now that I see how my presence has caused you such distress, I shall protect cloaked within the shadows of the night! I will no longer enter into your room without your express permission! Your deepest wish is all I ask in return!

 **Yukata Watanabe:** I really wish I was in another room right now.

 **Shiro Kiruma:** As… fascinating as that was, it would appear that Chimon, and by extension Kurotsuki, have alibis. I must say I pity you, Chimon. Even if it means you're clear, I wouldn't want to have Kurotsuki watching me sleep.

 **Kenji Taisei:** Right, well…That was weird. Regardless, we're kind of in a bind. There really isn't enough evidence to pin this on anybody and have it make logical sense.

 **Kenji Taisei Cont'd:** Akira, Emi, Yukiji, and Dahlia all have alibis, there's nothing to prove Setsuki did anything, Miho and Hana have alibis. Besides me, Yukata and Rio, no one else even left their rooms that night… And if they did, they wouldn't have enough time to make the crime scene we all witnessed. Where do we even go from here?

 **Akira Kazue:** There is one thing we haven't considered, Kenji.

 **Kenji Taisei:** What would that be?

 **Akira Kazue:** Maybe the crime didn't **happen** in the shower room.

 **Akami Sakiko:** If the murder didn't happen in the shower room, that would bring up all the things you've found in your investigation, Akira!

 **Kenji Taisei:** I admit… I've been wanting to hear what everyone found in their investigations, we never discussed it except for Dahlia's and Bam's searches.  
 **  
Shiro Kiruma:** Enlighten me, what other things were found in the rooms we've searched during the investigation?

 **Yukiji Chimon:** I wouldn't know anything about what you found in the library, Shiro. Since you kicked me out n' all.

 **Dahlia Kurotsuki:** How DARE thee! I will swear revenge on Yukiji's honor that I will aven-

 **Airi Kudo:** Shut up.

 **Shiro Kiruma** : …

 **Dahlia Kurotsuki:** …

 **Yukiji Chimon:** …

 **Kenji Taisei:** If the crime didn't happen in the shower room, and instead happened in another room, it would explain some things.  
 **  
Kenji Taisei Cont'd:** For example… we found Rio's body face down in the water, remember? If the wound was on the back of his head, then he wouldn't have fallen forward when he died, he would have been on his back if he hit the back of his head against something.  
 **  
Kenji Taisei Cont'd:** And I just realized what the purpose of the water on the floor was from that hint, Akira… Thank you.

 **Kenji Taisei Cont'd Again:** The water on the floor was to hide the blood trail, that indicates which room Rio was killed in. If they moved his body, it would leave a dragging smear of blood either along the floor, or in his clothing.

 **Airi Kudo:** If the water soaked the floor, any blood would seep into the water, water is known as the ultimate solvent, it mixes with anything that isn't oil based, especially if the blood on the floor hasn't dried yet.  
 **  
Kenji Taisei:** The shower water was set to hot, making his body warm to the touch. Though, I wish I checked how cold Rio was for myself...

 **Haru Yamada:** Why make the body still warm?

 **Akira Kazue:** To make it even more difficult to determine when his death happened. The colder a body is, the longer it's been since their cells stopped producing heat. The hot water kept the body warm in order to confuse us further on the time of death.

 **Kenji Taisei:** Especially since I didn't find a murder weapon in the shower room, and nobody could have been in the shower from 1 am to 5 am.

 **Kenji Taisei Cont'd:** But I did find something interesting. In the dumpster that connects the shower room to the dumpster, I found a blood smear on the lip of it. The strange thing about this was that the blood stain was older than the stains we found in the shower room, since those started to wash away from the water.

 **Setsuki Yori:** Really? That's awesome! Wait. It's still a murder. Not awesome.

 **Haru Yamada:** Setsuki's alive again!

 **Kiko:** Yip!

 **Kenji Taisei:** Shiro investigated the library and found…

 **Shiro Kiruma:** Absolutely nothing relevant to the case, but someone made a chessboard on the floor made of chalk, along with some soil on the ground.

 **Yukiji Chimon:** Whoops. Sorry bout that...

 **Kenji Taisei:** Haru and Reiko checked the exercise room and classrooms on the third floor and found…

 **Reiko Ono:** Fuck all.

 **Haru Yamada:** Found some Monocoins though! Toootally gonna spend them later too.

 **Kenji Taisei:** Airi and Yukata searched Rio's room for any leads and found…

 **Yukata Watanabe:** His room was like.. An exact copy of my room in every way, except for all his sweet leather jackets. They didn't fit though.

 **Hana Okamoto:** You tried them on?

 **Yukata Watanabe:** They looked warm, okay? I was jealous. I wanted to add another coat to my collection.

 **Hana Okamoto:** You wear like… two coats, you know that right? Why do you want a third coat?

 **Yukata Watanabe:** Respect is in the dress, Hana!

 **Akami Sakiko:** I would agree… but Yukata looks like he came from a thrift store.

 **Shiro Kiruma:** So, what I'm hearing is that the investigation has run cold.

 **Akira Kazue:** Not quite. Kenji mentioned something that caught my attention, suddenly… the entire third floor just became a crime scene.

 **Kenji Taisei:** What do you mean? How is the entire third floor a crime scene?

 **Akira Kazue:** Do you know where you throw your trash bags to end up in that dumpster with the blood stain?

 **Kenji Taisei:** N-not really… I haven't emptied my trash can yet in my room. I didn't really think about it.

 **Akira Kazue:** The way you dispose of your trash is on the third floor, besides the janitor's closet. There is a trash chute that you can open and drop your trash, it will fall down a slide, and land in the room beside the shower room for Monokuma to dispose of.

 **Monokuma:** That I mention WASN'T SUPPOSED TO BE OPEN!

 **Setsuki Yori:** Hey, yeah! You and Yukiji rode down that chute yesterday! I still don't know if I can fit a luge down there, but I'll find out!

 **Akira Kazue:** Right… and no one else is gonna ride down that chute! I mean it this time.

 **Akira Kazue Cont'd:** Here's the thing… only two people knew about my ride from the trash chute on the third floor, to the dumpster on the first one. And that would be Emi Nakayama, and Setsuki Yori. Did either of you tell anyone about my...unfortunate ride into the dumpster.

 **Emi Nakayama:** I didn't…

 **Setsuki Yori:** _Smiling proudly_ I told everyone!

 **Akira Kazue:** _Grasping her heart._ My reputation is the lowest it's ever been because of this class trial…

 **Haru Yamada:** That's our dumpster divin' poop machine of a police girl!

 _Akira cries in anguish._

 **Akami Sakiko:** Please… let's move on from all that. I really don't need to hear the word 'poop' again in this trial… This is enough of a joke as it is.  
 **  
Kenji Taisei:** So… What I'm inferring from this is that… Rio could have died on the third floor any time after he left his room at 10:22 PM, then his body could have been slid to the bottom floor. That means that some of our alibis might be up for question again.

 **Shiro Kiruma:** Since I have no desire to listen to Kurotsuki's verbal dribble again, I'll accept her and Chimon's alibis as standing even with this change.

 **Yukiji Chimon:** Yay.

 **Emi Nakayama: HOLD ON!  
** _Timer Start  
_  
 **Emi Nakayama:** But we still don't have the murder weapon, or a location on the third floor. How are we supposed to pin those down when we don't even know who was outside of their room when Rio died?  
 **  
Emi Nakayama Cont'd:** He could have died any time we didn't see him. The fact that the body was warmed back up by the shower water could only mean that the time of death is uncertain again!

 **Shiro Kiruma:** She is right in the sense that even if the murder didn't happen in the shower room. There still isn't a weapon, a method, or anyone who could have done it.

 **Emi Nakayama:** The only thing that makes sense is if the murder DIDN'T happen in the 2 hour time period!

 **Kenji Taisei: No, That's wrong!**

 _Timer Stopped at 21:15_

 **Kenji Taisei:** I have an idea as to exactly when Rio died, since it's also my alibi.

 _A sound of shock filled from the group in the trial room._

 **Reiko Ono:** Ya do? Well shit, man! Tell us!

 **Kenji Taisei:** Now that we have Shiro's log of our doors opening… The death of Rio had to have happened between 11:22 PM, and 11:30 PM. When a **strange thump** woke me from my sleep last night.

 **Yukata Watanabe:** Yeah! I remember that. I got out of my room around 11:30 as well, when I got Kenji to come with me to check it out!

 **Emi Nakayama:** I told you guys this already… That was when I fell and split the sawdust!

 **Kenji Taisei:** Honestly? I don't think you and some sawdust would be enough to cause a thump that heavy. Rio though? We saw the damage to his skull… He must have been hit very hard around the same time you were cleaning.

 _Akira covers her mouth, looking at the floor._

 **Shiro Kiruma:** Alright, so the murder might have been committed on the third floor. But we still don't know what the weapon was, or a window of time someone could have commited the murder.

 **Shiro Kiruma Cont'd:** I guess it would be time to get more information from officer Kazue about what other things she found in the workshop, possibly anything resembling a murder weapon?

 **Akira Kazue:** Unfortunately, I don't recall anything that could have been used as a weapon at a glance. Typically a murder weapon would either have dried blood on it, or possibly some superficial damage if it's been washed beforehand.

 **Akira Kazue Cont'd:** That doesn't mean I didn't find anything strange, because there were several things out of place.

 **Reiko Ono:** So… Things in the room were misplaced. Do you think that could lead up to anything?

 **Akira Kazue:** If anyone recalls, part of my procedures is to take inventory of rooms with potential murder weapons, and since the workshop contained the most possibilities for weapons, I decided to count them on the first day we were at the academy.

 **Akira Kazue Cont'd:** Almost all things were accounted for, but there were several changes from the last time I entered the room. 5 pairs of nuts and bolts have been removed from a drawer containing nuts, bolts and nails.

 **Kenji Taisei:** That's weird, because while I did find nuts and bolts in the trash chute, I could only find three bolts total, and they were covered in a strange white powder. Where would the other two be?

 **Akira Kazue:** We'll get to that as I list off more differences in the workshop. The next difference, is a length of wire that I suspect to be about 25 feet in length was tied off at both ends.

 **Akira Kazue Cont'd:** One was tied into a slipknot, designed to change the length of it's loop. The other side was tied into a square knot, meaning that the length of the loop could not change. The fixed loop's diameter would appear to be about 18 inches across.

 **Setsuki Yori:** The murder weapon was the wire!

 **Kenji Taisei:** That would make no sense. He was hit with something heavy, that's the only way his skull would have been so damaged.

 **Akira Kazue:** The last thing that was different concerned me when I looked at it. All of the 45 or so wrenches places along the wall on nail mounts have been removed from the wall, and placed in a box in the corner of the room. They were covered in a garbage bag, and had sawdust all around the bottom of it.  
 **Shiro Kiruma:** Could you possibly have lifted the box to observe if there was a blood stain underneath it? Or did you check that any of the individual wrenches had blood stains on them?

 **Akira Kazue:** The combined weight of the wrenches made them immensely heavy. They were all pipe wrenches made of iron, so I would estimate each one would weigh around 2.5, to 5 pounds a piece.

 **Yukiji Chimon:** If we averaged the weight out to about 3 pounds, 3 times 45 would be over 135 pounds, possibly even more, how would you lift that?

 **Reiko Ono:** I mean, I probably could, but I was exploring the top floor.

 **Akira Kazue:** That would have been nice, but sadly the investigation is over and we can't leave until we vote.

 **Shiro Kiruma:** But what about the wrenches in the box, were there blood stains?

 **Akira Kazue:** I didn't have the time to sieve through all the pipe wrenches to see if they had stains on them, but the ones on the surface had weird stains on them, that weren't blood.

 **Akira Kazue Cont'd:** I think the closest thing I could think of that was covering some of the wrenches was… Dried soap? It was speckled and flaked off when I ran my fingers over it. I don't really know what else they could be covered in.

 _Timer Starts_

 **Bam Takahashi:** Soap!? What a strange turn of events in this case. Was Rio dealt a hand of soapy death!?

 **Akira Kazue:** No, but it makes me think maybe we have a murder weapon that may have been covered up.

 **Setsuki Yori:** Was it the wrenches!? Did they hit him with a wrench!?

 **Setsuki Yori Cont'd:** Or maybe it was several wrenches, they hit them with each wrench, then washed them off afterward?

 **Kenji Taisei:** But it says he died instantly. Did he die on the first hit, then they continued hitting them?  
 **  
Bam Takahashi:** Maybe he got hit with ALL the wrenches at the SAME TIME!

 **Akira Kazue: I agree with Takahashi!**

 _Timer Stops at 19:44_

 **Reiko Ono:** Okay Kazue… Can you please explain to me. How in the living shit did the killer hit Rio with ALL THE WRENCHES at the same goddamn time?

 **Akira Kazue** : Think about it, I'll give you guys some time.

 **Setsuki Yori:** Alright! Time for thinkin'!

 _Setsuki closes her eyes, leaning left to right with her arms outstretched and creating "woosh!" sounds with her mouth._

 **Yukata Watanabe:** ...What is she doing?

 **Hana Okamoto** : ...I… don't know…

 **Setsuki Yori:** _muttering_ Woooah~ Look out for the big juuump~ Watch out for those triangles!

 **Reiko Ono:** 'kay, she's lost it.

 **Kenji Taisei:** Let's just keep going…

 _Timer Starts_

 **Kenji Taisei:** Would it be possible for the culprit to throw all the wrenches?

 **Akira Kazue** : That would be pretty hard, they would most likely miss unless they were good at throwing stuff.

 **Hana Okamoto:** I'm only good at passing stuff, I wouldn't be able to throw something heavy like that!

 **Setsuki Yori:** I fell down a hole! Damn it!

 **Kenji Taisei:** What if they like… avalanched the wrenches onto him?

 **Shiro Kiruma:** These are getting stupider by the minute. Does anyone have a good idea how he could have got hit with more than one wrench at the same time? Kazue, I'm blaming you for this.

 **Akira Kazue:** I'm just saying tha-

 **Setsuki Yori: AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH IGOTIT!  
** _Timer stops at 15:22_

Setsuki Yori Cont'd:

THEY WERE DROPPED ON HIM! I MADE IT TO THE BOTTOM OF BRAIN MOUNTAIN!

 **Kenji Taisei:** W-what!?

 **Setsuki Yori:** T-the wrenches! If they all were dropped at the same time, it would cause the sound that Kenji heard. The big thump!

 **Shiro Kiruma:** Then where were the wrenches dropped from?

 **Akira Kazue:** There's a shelf oversitting the workshop in the hallway. It's not a big one, and it looks to mostly be used for backup supplies. Maybe the culprit put the wrenches up there, waited and then pushed them off to land on Rio.  
 _  
Timer Start  
_

 **Kenji Taisei:** Did the culprit like… sit on the shelf with a bunch of wrenches, waiting to drop them?

 **Shiro Kiruma:** They must be contained in the box that Kazue found when they were dropped on Rio. Then the culprit shoved it back into position.  
 **  
Kenji Taisei:** How would they get all the wrenches up there? It weighs over 135 pounds or more, the shelf must be at least 8 or 9 feet in the air.

 **Dahlia Kurotsuki:** Maybe someone did 3 pointers with the wrenches until the box was full, then used their skills as the _ultimate basketball star_ to leap themselves up into the corridor? They might have done this before the doors unlocked at 11 PM.  
 **  
Hana Okamoto:** Oh, you're trying to blame it on me now!? Wanna get dunked on, VAMPIRE GIRL!?

 **Kenji Taisei:** Hana, how fast could you get 45 3 pointers?

 **Hana Okamoto:** Excuse me? EXCUSE ME!?

 **Hana Okamoto cont'd:** I can get 45 3 pointers in 90 seconds flat! EASY!

 **Yukata Watanabe:** Y'know you're digging your own grave, right?

 **Dahlia Kurotsuki:** There, we have a basis of logic~ Hana Okamoto could have thrown the wrenches up there with precision, then lie there in wait for Rio Daisuke to walk underneath her, so she could kill her!

 **Akira Kazue:** **No. You're wrong.**

 _Timer Stops at 11:51_

 **Akira Kazue:** Need I remind you that we have Shiro's door logs? Hana would have to have been outside of her room before 11 PM, then re-enter the room after 1 AM to be able to successfully evade the unlock time. I went downstairs about 20 minutes before then, and I didn't even see her.

 **Hana Okamoto:** Yeah, that and I would be only functioning on like… 3 hours of sleep right now.

 **Akira Kazue:** And if the time of death was around 11:30 at night, like Kenji said… Then Emi, Kenji and Yukata would have been able to see her if she was hiding on a shelf.

 **Dahlia Kurotsuki:** That's what I get for trying to think outside the box~ _  
_

 **Yukata Watanabe:** Was that a pun? Please don't tell me she just made a pun.

 **Dahlia Kurotsuki:** O~hohohoho!

 **Akira Kazue:** I think it's time to bring up the last thing I saw while investigating.

 **Akira Kazue Cont'd:** I saw five holes drilled in the wall in a rather strange shape. It was shaped somewhat like an N, the holes were about the same diameter of the bolts that went missing.

 **Kenji Taisei:** An N? Why would they put bolts in the wall shaped like an N?

 **Shiro Kiruma:** To use the wheels misplaced in the walls as a pulley.

 **Akira Kazue:** A pulley? How would a pulley help?

 **Airi Kudo** : Pulleys use either multiple wheels and tensions to distribute the force of an object, allowing it to be easier to lift. If they used 5 wheels in an N shape, the wheels would be distributing the weight across 5 different points, pretty much making the wall into a makeshift block and tackle. It's one of the simple machines you learn in physics class.

 **Monokuma** : Ooooh~ Sciency.

 **Kenji Taisei** : Someone used a compound pulley system to make them able to lift the box of wrenches into position. They must have used the looped wire, right?

 **Akira Kazue** : That would make it the easiest for someone to do it, they then leaned the box up against the self, waiting for Rio to walk underneath of it.

 **Kenji Taisei** : Then… who could have used a pulley system to do something that complex?

 **Emi Nakayama** : Look… I was the one who set the trap.

 **Kenji Taisei** : Emi? You set the trap that killed Rio?

 **Emi Nakayama** : Yeah. I did… But I never meant to kill him. It was a simple snare trap, he steps in the slipknot and pulls it, it pulls the box off the shelf and the pulleys would lift him upside down. It was designed to keep him still.

 **Emi Nakayama Cont'd** : I designed the trap, then went into my room. The wire wasn't supposed to be long enough for the box of wrenches to hit the ground. I just wanted to use it as a ballast to keep him still so I could… speak to him.

 **Kenji Taisei** : Was it a miscalculation? Maybe the rope was longer than you thought.

 **Emi Nakayama** : No. I don't make mistakes in my engineering. I'm supposed to be the Ultimate Carpenter. The wire was the exact length I needed for the trap's ballast to activate safely.

 **Emi Nakayama Cont'd** : When I heard the noise, I went out of my bedroom and found Kenji's body horribly disfigured, but the other thing I noticed was there were two bolts removed from the setup.

 **Kenji Taisei** : Someone modified the trap!?

 **Emi Nakayama** : I don't know who did it.

 **Akira Kazue** : Regardless of if someone modified the trap, you chose to tamper with the crime scene anyway?

 **Emi Nakayama** : I panicked, okay!? I didn't even know Rio was going to be the one who activated the trap. Kenji knows why I chose the third floor to place the snare trap.

 **Kenji Taisei** : ...The secret door on the third floor.

 **Akira Kazue** : There is a secret door on the third floor? Why didn't you tell anyone this information!?

 **Emi Nakayama** : I thought that one of us might be aware of it, and would do something to hide it if I explained it to anyone except for Kenji. We were going to do a stakeout tomorrow to see if anyone used it, but I wanted to hedge my bets, okay?

 **Kenji Taisei** : But… Yukiji and Dahlia have alibis. The only person who was out when Rio died was… Rio, did he modify the trap to kill himself and blame you?

 **Shiro Kiruma** : We're getting to the point of insane theories just to prove your girlfriend's innocence? I thought you had some semblance of decency, Taisei.

 **Shiro Kiruma Cont'd** : When she found the body, she altered the crime scene. Cleaning up the blood with a mop, then moving his body through the trash chute from the first floor, to the third floor.

 **Kenji Taisei: You're wrong.**

Kenji Taisei Cont'd

: When I was looking at Emi mopping the floor last night, all there was on the ground was the sawdust she used to make your bookshelf, Kiruma.

 **Haru Yamada** : If there's a stain on a hard floor, the water would cause it to spread everywhere. If you lay down a layer of sawdust, it would absorb the stain and she could easily dispose of it in a trash bag. I know this from taking care of dogs at my parent's kennel.

 **Kenji Taisei** : And there was a bag of sawdust in the dumpster near the shower…

 **Emi Nakayama** : I hid the body, but I still wasn't the one who killed him, okay!?

 _Timer Starts  
_  
 **Kenji Taisei** : We were trying to find the mastermind, and he modified Emi's trap to kill Rio when he walked by!

 **Emi Nakayama** : The mastermind removed two of the screws in the trap, causing the length of the rope to hit the ground and kill Rio when he accidentally triggered it.

 **Emi Nakayama Cont'd** : When I saw the body, I got upset and realized that they might think it's my fault. So I moved the body down the trash chute into the shower room.

 **Emi Nakayama Cont'd** : I cleaned the bloodstains with sawdust when Kenji saw me, My trap couldn't have killed him!

 **Kenji Taisei** : I found only three bolts in the dumpster, those were the ones Emi threw down the chute when she saw the accident happen.

 **Emi Nakayama** : And I couldn't find the other two bolts taken out of the trap, who could have possibly taken them! **  
**

 **Akira Kazue** : She could be lying to you, Kenji! If she just removed the screws and placed them somewhere else, she could pretend that someone else tampered with the trap.

 **Akira Kazue Cont'd** : She used the idea of a mastermind as a false pretense for murder. She thought if she could cause a death that looked like an accident, she could be acquitted for her crime and escape the school.

 **Kenji Taisei** : Why would she possibly do that!? That would circumvent her whole goal of getting us out of here alive. If she hid the bolts, where could she have hid them!? There's no fucking way she could have done that!

 **Kenji Taisei Cont'd** : Emi is so helpful, kind, and innocent minded. Why would she use that to trick anyone? She even helped SHIRO of all people for god's sake!

 **Akira Kazue** : Kenji, open your eyes...

 **Kenji Taisei** : I don't believe you. There isn't any way I would EVER believe you!

 **Dahlia Kurotsuki: Young Taisei, I apologize.**

 _Timer stops at 9:04_

 **Kenji Taisei** : …

 **Dahlia Kurotsuki** : I didn't believe the thing I found in Nakayama's dorm when I searched it would be relevant… But hearing your argument made me realize something.

Kenji Taisei: And what the hell would that be!?

 **Dahlia Kurotsuki** : I was in charge of searching the women's dorms, and stuffed into Nakayama's toilet was two bolts that I found.

 _She opens a palm after taking it out of her pocket, revealing two bolts with nuts wrapped on them._

 **Dahlia Kurotsuki Cont'd** : Ms. Nakyama lied. She knew where she left these bolts the whole time.

 **Emi Nakayama** : Wait! Wait wait wait! Those were in my toilet!? I never saw them when I looked! Who the hell put them there!

 **Kenji Taisei** : Why the hell would I believe you!? You're such a weirdo, I could believe you possibly being a mastermind. It couldn't be Emi!

 **Akira Kazue** : Kenji, please… this is hard enough for all of us…

 **Kenji Taisei** : No! I promised Emi that we would make it out of this! I'm not gonna let you all kill her!

 _The Timer restarts_

 **Kenji Taisei** : This is wrong! You can't do this! I won't let you! How can you believe Dahlia?! Emi couldn't have done it! This isn't right! This is all a trick! How could you guys be this cruel?! I don't want everyone to die here!

 _Kenji's words seemed to fluctuate in speed, Akira shaking as she braced against his full verbal assault._

 **Akira Kazue** : The truth is cruel, Kenji! We can't turn a blind eye to this just because you don't want to believe it!

 **Kenji Taisei** : Fuck the truth! This whole game was rigged from the start to make us hate each other! This is what Monokuma wants us to do! Why don't you understand this!? Emi didn't commit the murder!

 **Akira Kazue** : Monokuma explained the whole rules at the beginning of the trial, Kenji! He said one of us did it, and I'm inclined to believe him.

 **Kenji Taisei** : YOU BELIEVE HIM OVER ME!? SHE TOLD ME THE DOOR OPENED AND THE MASTERMIND WENT THROUGH IT!

 **Akira Kazue** : Wishful thinking isn't going to find the Blackened, Kenji! Rio died, there's nothing we can do about that now!

 **Kenji Taisei** : Is that right!? This is a plan by the Mastermind, he wants to take out Emi because she's the first one to notice the secret doors in the building. The Mastermind wants to frame Emi by him killing Rio! Why else would Rio be on the third floor unless the Mastermind misled him!

 **Akira Kazue: THERE IS NO MASTERMIND.**

 _Timer Stops at 3:21_

Kenji punches his podium.

 **Akira Kazue Cont'd** : There isn't a mastermind, Kenji… Emi did it and is trying to throw you off by pretending someone who isn't even in the game did it, she might have told you about the door, but have you ever thought that maybe she just lied to get you on her side?

 **Kenji Taisei** : …

 **Emi Nakayama** : Kenji… Believe in me.

 **Akira Kazue** : I can't… And that's the truth… And I'll explain it to you.

 **Akira Kazue Cont'd: The pieces are all coming together!**

"The murder began at roughly 11:00 PM, slightly after our curfew, but before the locks of the dorms opening like Monokuma mentioned. the culprit, who was misleading Kenji by saying they were suspecting that someone was traveling to and from secret panels that they wanted to catch and interrogate whoever was slipping through them, at least that's what they told us. In actuality, I think it was so they could commit a murder while **making it look like the Mastermind committed the murder.**

They made their way upstairs from her dorm room to the **workshop** , where they used their ultimate talent to make the tools for her snare trap. they acquired wire, several small wheels, bolts, and took a box of **wrenches** off the wall, putting them in a box to make a heavy weapon to drop on someone's head.

They drilled holes in the wall, and attached five wheels to the wall to make a makeshift pulley system that would change the weight of the object enough for someone as small as the culprit to lift it to the shelf. They leaned the box of wrenches against the side of the shelf, meaning any nudge **would cause it to fall off.** They intentionally set up this trap near a wooden panel that they told Kenji could have been a door.

After the trap was set up, the culprit deliberately removed two screws from the pulley system, lengthening the amount of rope and making the wrenches hit the floor. **While we don't know why** Rio decided to go up to the third floor, I could possibly guess maybe he left something in the library that he needed to get. Sadly, he didn't have a chance to talk to anybody before his death.

Acting in a hurry, the culprit looped the wire on both ends, tying one around the box of wrenches on the shelf, and the other on the floor. After finishing theri trap, they went back to their bedroom to hide two of the screws in hopes **it would provide them an alibi later.**

Rio, getting his item from the library needed to pass by the workshop to get back to the staircase leading to the second floor dorms, so he had to walk past the snare that the perpetrator set up. **The snare hooked one of his legs,** tripping him forward and making him land on his stomach. The pulleys activated, pulling the wire along the wall to pull the wrench box off the shelf.

The box of wrenches landed on his head, killing him instantly. The box, being made of cardboard fell over from the impact **, leaving wrenches everywhere.** The thump of the box landing could be heard from the second floor, waking some of us, but most of the students were too afraid to step outside, as **Monokuma announced the doors were now unlocked for two hours and didn't want to be put in danger.**

Our culprit, spotting that their trap worked quickly ran over, terrified that the box of wrenches burst were now on the ground, and the wrenches were soaking in the blood near his completely destroyed head. They knew the sound would wake people up, and had to quickly give themselves an alibi so people would not suspect them. They rushed to the janitors closet, where they found a trash bag and a **mop.**

Conveniently that day, they made a bookcase for Shiro, leaving a bag full of leftover sawdust for them to use. They put his body in the trash bag, but since they were not strong enough to lift him, they dragged his body along the ground, through the blood soaked wrenches and took him to the trash chute, using this as a way to **quickly drop him from the third floor to the first.**

They began to quickly mop up the blood, now coated in the sawdust and easier to hide but they didn't have time to remove the wrenches from the scene. By the time most of the blood was gone, Yukata and Kenji found the culprit mopping the third floor from the staircase. They told us they tripped and dropped the sawdust, meaning she had to clean it and that if we head upstairs we would slip.

Since the two of them weren't suspecting a murder happened, they **took the culprit's word for it, and returned to their rooms, the culprit successfully lied to them.** The culprit rushed downstairs to the bottom of the trash chute. It would be strange if his body was stuffed in a trash bag, so they decided they would have to make it look like an accident.

They **dragged the body to the bathing room,** took his body out of the trash bag and rested him near the center of the room. The culprit grabbed some towels, stuffing the drain of the shower and turned the water on, making the floor wet and making Rio look like he slipped and hit his head on the edge of a bathtub. This had a beneficial effect of causing the blood from the culprit dragging Rio's body to **mix with the water.**

Despite this, the major problem with the coverup in making Rio look like he **slipped in the shower** was the wound was on the wrong side of his head. The culprit, resigned to the fact they just murdered someone, would have to start hiding the evidence. Heading back up to the third floor, putting the wrenches back in the workshop despite the fact the wrenches were soaked in soap from the mop, and disposing the screws left in the trap down the chute, hoping that the trash would be disposed of before someone found the body.

They wringed the mop of its blood, putting it back where it belonged before disassembling their trap, putting the parts they didn't use back in the workshop, including the **looped wire, one of the only ways we figured out that the culprit used a trap.**

After this, the culprit finally went back to bed. Before Monokuma announced that was 7 AM, Hana, Miho and Setsuki shower together at 5 AM, finding Rio's body in a small pool of water and blood in the middle of the room. Panicking, they ran up the stairs, hitting all the doors and waking us up to discover the body together.

We suspected that the murder happened roughly at 5 PM, but it actually happened the **night before.  
** **  
**And that's how Rio's murder happened. Isn't that right, **ULTIMATE CARPENTER EMI NAKAYAMA?"  
**

 **Emi Nakayama** : …

 **Monokuma** : Well, that was super interesting! Nicely detailed closing argument, Ms. Ultimate Police Cadet!

 **Kenji Taisei** : God damn it… This can't be happening.

 **Airi Kudo** : I can't argue with Akira… That was pretty extensive, considering all the information we currently have.

 **Bam Takahashi** : A conclusive finish to this first class trial! The Blackened was discovered by Ultimate Police Cadet, Akira Kazue!

 **Dahlia Kurotsuki** : How unfortunate for you, young Taisei. Your attempts to be Nakayama's shining knight have exposed her… Blackened heart. O~hohohoho!

 **Kenji Taisei** : Sh-shut up… this is bullshit… you're all…

 **Yukata Watanabe** : Kenji, it's over, man. Sorry, but I think that Emi…

 **Kenji Taisei** : Not you too, Yukata! Has everyone gone crazy?! Emi wouldn't-

 **Shiro Kiruma** : Taisei, this foolish crusade has to end. The trial has reached a conclusion and if you refuse to see reason and vote for Nakayama, you will die along with her.

 **Kenji Taisei** : We'll all die if we vote for Emi because she isn't the Blackened. The Mastermind-

 **Miho Ishii** : Kenji, there isn't a Mastermind. There's no evidence that anyone besides Monokuma is running things.

 **Monokuma** : Yup! In fact, since you guys have done so well so far, I can give you a little secret! If there is a Mastermind, they are not in this courtroom.

 **Kenji Taisei** : There! You see?! Monokuma admits it! There is a Mastermind! We have to-

 **Akira Kazue** : Kenji, you're clutching at straws now. I don't like it any more than you do, but Emi killed Rio. The trial's over.

 **Kenji Taisei** : But-

 **Emi Nakayama** : No… it's okay, Kenji.

 **Kenji Taisei** : Eh?! Emi?

 **Emi Nakayama** : I don't believe what they're saying… But if it means the rest of you can live to find the Mastermind… I guess this is fine. Kenji… you're a good person. I believe you can make it out of here. The trap was a bad idea, I'm sorry for failing you guys.

 _Emi starts crying._

 **Kenji Taisei** : E-Emi… don't-

 **Emi Nakayama** : Kenji, just promise you won't forget me, okay?

 **Kenji Taisei** : Why do you have to die!?

 **Monokuma** : Despair! That's why. The very definition of despair is that moment you spend hours upon hours getting your hopes up, expecting something good to happen, followed by a sudden, perilous fall into a void of disappointment. The fact you got so hopeful, Kenji, is the very same reason you feel this way. Welcome to emptiness, Kenji Taisei!

 **Emi Nakayama** : Kenji. Promise me that-

 **Kenji Taisei** : I promise, Emi. I won't forget you...

 **Monokuma** : Cutesy Awww, how sappy~ Just makes you want to puke your guts out~ And with that out of the way… It's voting time!

 _The button for stopping debates sunk into the podium, replaced by a grid of boxes with each student's faces on it. Only Rio's face was greyed out. Kenji watched as everyone pressed a button on the screen, taking in a deep breath. He pressed on Shiro's face, praying for the others to have faith in Emi like he had._ _He looked to Emi, who was shaking in her podium, tears streaming down her face as she held onto herself. Kenji felt the sting of tears in his eyes, reaching for Emi when a sudden jingling rang out in everyone's ears._

 _Kenji turned to see giant golden slot machine spinning the same images of their faces from the voting screen. The first slot landed on Emi. He shook his head. It was a mistake The other two had to be Shiro. It would meant that the majority voted for him. Then the second face came up Emi again. His heart sank but he still held out hope that enough people were with him. Shiro was the culprit, it was all a mistake. Shiro was-_

 _The last slot landed on Emi._

 _Monokuma began to laugh, both him and the visage on the slot machine. A slot opened up for all the students except for Kenji, Monocoins shooting out of each one. Kenji's heart sank to a black pit that made him silent as Monokuma spoke_

 **Monokuma** : Congrats guys, you did it! Emi Nakayama was the culprit in the murder of Rio Daisuke! Here's the nitty gritty about how all you voted!

 _He pointed to the screen beside him, showing the tallied results of the vote._

Emi Nakayama: 13  
Shiro Kiruma: 1

 **Monokuma** : Awww, looks like you know who chose not to vote for Emi! _Cutesy_ D'awww how schweeet~ too bad! He ain't getting any damn Monocoins for voting wrong!

 **Shiro Kiruma** : Hmph, that's immature and spiteful, Taisei.

 **Yukata Watanabe** : Kenji…

 **Haru Yamada** : Sorry, man. Akira's argument made sense.

 **Hana Okamoto** : Sorry, Kenji...

 **Monokuma** : Now then, since you all built a perfect case against her… the blackened, Emi Nakayama, shall receive her punishment!

 _The students all went silent as Monokuma cackled manically._

 **Monokuma** : Now then, I've prepared a very special punishment for Emi Nakayama, the Ultimate Carpenter! Let's give it everything we've got! IT'S PUNISHMENT TIIIME!

 _A large red button appeared in front of Monokuma, who then struck it with a gavel. The screen changed to show a new message._

 **GAME OVER. Emi has been found guilty. It's time for the punishment!**

 **Emi Nakayama** : Kenji… I'm glad we got to be friends, even if it was for a few days. Please… stay safe.

 _A collar attached to a chain snapped on Emi's neck, preparing to drag her way. Kenji briefly snapped out of his stupor, reaching out for Emi only to be grabbed by Shiro and pulled back._


	10. Execution 1

Punishment #1: Helter Skelter Shelter

Emi gasped as the collar wrapped around her neck, choking her as Kenji jumped off his podium to attempt to run over to her. Shiro grabbed firmly on his wrist, making him struggle to get away from him. "Taisei, get ahold of yourself!" Shiro demanded, but Kenji just kicked him in the knee, getting him away from him as he ran around the podium to Emi. There was a large thunk sound, as the room began to open up like it were on a hinge.

"Emi!" Kenji shouted, running toward her and reaching out his hand. Emi reached out hers, but just before they touched, a winch pulled the chain around her neck, dragging her along the floor to a pair of Monokumas waiting for her.

"KENJI!" Emi shrieked as she felt her fingernails began to tear on the concrete floor from trying too hard to grab the ground, blood trails on every one of her fingers as the Monokumas strapped her to a large table, and began to build a house, buckles on her arms and legs snapped, wrapping around her limbs and pinning her to the table she was on, as each Monokuma began to slowly build a house together.

They started with the frame of the house, nailing 2x4's with a hammer and a nail gun. Music began to play over a speaker so loud Kenji couldn't hear his voice, but he tried to run toward Emi anyway until another hand gripped him by the wrist.

"Kenji, don't be stupid!" Miho demanded, putting him in a hammerlock and wrapping an arm around his neck to keep him from fighting her. Kenji thrashed, but she was stronger than him, and he couldn't move.

The Monokumas built a foundation to the house, placing the frame on it before cutting flat pieces of plywood to cover the house in panels, along with cutting windows out of the walls and putting frames on them. They ran around the house a few times, putting up siding and insulation, then put in the windows.

Then they put on the roof, stapling on shingles at an extremely quick speed, leaving just the doors left. They put in the door frame, and went over to inspect Emi quickly. The table she was laying on was actually a door, it seemed. A double door, but the problem was they were stuck together.

The music kept getting louder, it felt like Kenji's ears were starting to bleed as the music began to speed up and go more and more off pitch. The Monokumas grabbed a nailgun, shooting nails into each one of Emi's fingers with a shriek and a splatter of blood on the hardwood door, pinning both her hands to the door, with one thicker nail being hammered into each of her palms.

Kenji could barely tell the screams from the music, but blood was leaking onto the doors and dripping on the floor underneath them.

A Monokuma wearing a hard hat hit a button on a remote he was holding, and a large sawblade popped up from the table, spinning and adding a painfully high pitched noise to the cacophony, the edge of the saw sliced through the mahogany door like butter, as Emi craned her neck up, tears streaming down her face as she mouthed some words Kenji couldn't hear over all the noise.

The two Monokumas began to push the door along the saw, the blade sliding up between her legs and beginning to cut her flesh with a guttural chugging sound. Blood geysered up and away from her as the saw began to sever her body tail to tip straight down the middle. The speed of the blade launched blood to the ceiling, before raining down on her and the house. Her screams were the loudest, most painful ones Kenji has ever heard.

Then it stopped, her body gave out, and she began to die, but the Monokuma's kept cutting. Her entrails, viscera and blood began to fly onto the house in chunks as it severed her torso, ribcage and eventually sliced into her neck, cutting her head in two as the cutting finally stopped.

The walls of the home were coated in blood, the floor was caked in gore and broken bones and the two Monokumas lifted each side of the door Emi's corpse was pinned down, attaching the hinges and slowly closing the doors, pushing the two halves of Emi back together.

Then the music stopped.

And in its place came more screams. Cries of pain and fear rung out through the courtroom. Kenji was thrashing in Miho's hammerlock, which had been weakened from the panic of what she had just witnessed. "LET ME GO! LET ME GO! EMI!" Kenji shouted, wet with tears as he broke free, looking back at Miho who was looking away with a grey and dead expression on her face. She didn't want to look again.

Kenji kept running, entering the hall that lead to the execution chamber. He ran faster and faster, he had to get to the house. He had to save her. He had to- *WHAM!*

Without warning, a pair of massive steel doors slammed shut, sending the hall into darkness. Kenji felt a sudden and violent tightness around his neck. He reached for his neck, feeling cold metal on his fingers when he was yanked away. "No no no no NOOOOO!" Kenji wailed as the winch dragged him from the hall, forcing him back into the courtroom and hitting his podium hard.

"And what do you think you're doing, Mister?! Think you're going to be the big hero, huh?! Think you'll save the damsel in distress from the scary monster?! Well guess what, Jack! There are no heroes in the real world. Everyone's a loser! Everyone has no real purpose except for the crap they make up to make them feel better at night. If you think you can do better, graduate from the University and PROVE IT, jackass!" Monokuma said, claws outstretched.

"Bring her back! Bring her back, you sick bastard!" Kenji screamed, voice hoarse and cracking.

"Bring her back? Bring her- boy, you really hit your stride, didn't you Kenji? Guess what. It's alllll downhill from here, so you better get used to the death, disorder and despair because I can't keep having you ruin my executions! Emi's guilty, so she's dead. That's all there is to it!" Monokuma shot back, Kenji still struggling against the collar on his neck.

"Damn it! Fuck you! You're just protecting the Mastermind! This is all rigged!" he wailed out, choking as the collar tightened around him.

"Keep it up, kiddo! I can keep you here all day if I like. Do you know what it's like to have all the cards in your hand? I do, and you never will. So you being a brat is just thrashing at nothing, understood?" Monokuma asked, getting up close to Kenji, red eye glowing bright.

"Hey! Bearshit! You let him go!" came a voice from the crowd.

"Haaaah? Who thinks they can boss around me, the Great Monoku-" he began before seeing a nailed bat fly towards him, dodging quickly. "Ah, ah, ah! I'd like to remind you that according to Enoshima University Regul-" this time he wasn't given time to rattle off his rules as Reiko had the bat right under his nose.

"Are you fucking deaf? I said let Kenji go! NOW!" Reiko shouted, Monokuma growling at her only to see that quite a few students were standing with her. Akira went over to Kenji's side, trying to calm him down.

"Now, you gonna let Kenji go or are we gonna have to cave your fuckin' head in?" Reiko demanded, Monokuma backing away slightly.

"Oh, all right! Sheesh! Ruin my fun!" Monokuma grumbled as he walked off. The collar soon came off.

"Kenji…" Akira said, only for Kenji to push her aside and run right for Monokuma.

"You bastard!" Kenji shouted before once again, Shiro grabbed his wrist.

"Taisei. There's nothing we can do from this point on. Emi's gone, this ordeal is over for the time being. Let's just go back to the University." Shiro spoke with a stern, but even tone as Kenji looked back at him, glaring. He readied a fist, about to punch Shiro, but Shiro was ready and caught his fist. "Really now? Is that all you can do, Taisei? Yell, scream, strike me all you want, but death is death, you can't have your way and your tantrums are becoming irritating." he said coldly, tossing him to the floor and heading to the elevator. "Let's go." he said, adjusting his glasses.

Kenji began to break down and cry, punching the floor with his fist as Akira softly approached him, gently gripping him on the shoulder in an attempt to pull him back up to his feet.

"L-let's go, Kenji. Maybe you should just go to bed and let it out in your room…" She asked, but Kenji seemed like he couldn't respond to her. Or wouldn't.

"Ya can't make him go, Akira." Miho said, walking up beside her and lightly placing a palm on Akira's shoulder. "He has to choose when to go back." She added, but Akira just clutched her gloved fists hard and sighed.

"I just… I want to help him, I don't know how, and it's frustrating..." Akira said, Miho giving her shoulder a tug.

"C'mon. We should get going." Miho said, pulling her toward the elevator. Slowly, everyone made their way to the elevator, Kenji watching with a blank stare, face soaked with tears. Thirteen students stood on the elevator, the click of lights turning off went down the hallway and into the class trial courtroom, leaving Kenji alone in the darkness, as Monokuma got on the elevator with the other students as well

"We're… we're not just gonna leave him here, are we?" Yukata asked, concern thick in his voice.

"I'll lower the elevator again once we get to the top. Kenji will leave when he decides to adult for a while." Monokuma replied to Yukata's question. Soon came the ding of the elevator, lifting off. Setsuki, face buried in her hood, waved to Kenji as the elevator ascended. Kenji simply stood in the darkness, staring at the light of the elevator before letting out an anguished scream.

Dinner that evening was still and silent, with only the occasional clink of silverware punctuating the void. Even Bam seemed to be at a loss for words. Monokuma popped up. "Good evening, students! I forgot something! As we have had a successful class trial, the unlocked doors rule has been lifted! Your doors will be locked again and you will be safe.. Ish. Kinda." he announced to no response. "And with that said, Shiro, I will be needing my Monopad back!" he said, Shiro standing up and walking over to Monokuma, handing him the pink Monopad. Monokuma then vanished.

"Any sign of him yet, Akami?" Akira asked.

"No… do you think we should go down and check on him? I don't want to be morbid, but in his current state, he might've-" he said, Akira holding a hand up.

"No. He's not dead. I can still see him on my Monopad. But I agree with your concerns. I've been worried about that too. Especially as we're coming up on nighttime. There's nine hours where we'll all be asleep and Kenji could kill himself." Akira said, sighing heavily.

Akami crossed his arms underneath his chest, looking at the floor. "If we have to have another class trial after… that on the very same day. I'm going to freak. I'm exhausted, and I was barely involved in it." he said, paling.

"Yeah…" Akira said, gripping her fork tightly, hand quivering.

"Kenji's up." Yukiji said, pointing to the doors. Through the clear glass of the door, they saw Kenji walk by, heading for the stairs without a glance toward his classmates.

"He still looks horrible… God, I feel awful." Akira said, pushing her food away.

"It… it wasn't your fault, Akira. Emi killed Rio, right?" Yukiji said.

"Y-yeah… but he believed in her. Kenji's not that foolish to believe anyone he hears… But Emi either lied, or this school started to take its toll on her sanity… and then… oh God..." Akira said, covering her ears as the screams rung out in her head. Miho sat next Akira, rubbing her back.

"It's okay, Akira. Emi's, Emi's in a better place now." she said reassuringly.

"I hope so, Miho. Sh deserves that, at least." Akira said, getting up. As she walked off, Monokuma cleared his throat.

"Oh yeah! Before you go, I have a special announcement planned for tomorrow morning! So be here for breakfast! If any of you see Kenji, pass the word to him!" Monokuma said, vanishing again.

"I fuckin't hate that bear…" Reiko said. No one else spoke, but it was clear that everyone agreed with her in this moment. Akira left the kitchen, heading up to the second floor. As she got to her dorm, she stopped. At the far end of the hall was Kenji's dorm. She walked down, knocking on the door.

"Kenji…?" she asked, getting no answer. "Kenji, it's Akira…" she said, still no response.

"Monokuma said he has a special announcement for tomorrow morning…." she explained. Silence. "Kenji, I can't tell you how sorry I am… I-I know that you and Emi were close, but- I-I just… all the evidence told me that she did it. But… but you can't give up yet. We're still here and we're gonna get out of here. We're gonna beat Monokuma. We have to beat Monokuma. For Rio and Emi's sake."

Still nothing, Akira sighed. She probably would've gotten a better response from the door.

"I'll keep an eye on him." came a voice to her side. She turned around to see Yukata standing there, pillow and bed sheet tucked under his arm.. "I overheard you and Akami… not hard when no else is talking. I'll stay with him and make sure he sleeps." he offered.

"Thanks Yukata. Don't know why I bothered. He probably still hates me…" Akira said, head hung low.

"I don't think he hates you. He may not want to talk to you for a while, but he doesn't hate you." he said, putting a hand on her shoulder. "Give him time. He's just taking this hard. We all are, ya know?"

"Yeah, I guess… thanks again, Yukata. I'm gonna go to bed." Akira replied, trying to force a smile as she left. Yukata gave a weak smile back, turning to Kenji's door and knocking.

"Kenji. It's Yukata. Open up, man. I'm rooming with you tonight." Yukata said.

"...There's only bed." Kenji muttered back.

"I can sleep on the floor. I know you're in a bad way right now, buddy. That's why I wanna be there for you." Yukata said, waiting for a response. After a moment of silence, the door opened. Kenji looked better than Yukata had last seen him, but his eyes were glazed over, and his skin was pale.

"Come in. You'd probably just sleep outside if I said no, right?" Kenji asked.

"Yep." Yukata replied, stepping into the room. Kenji hit the bed, lying down while Yukata picked out a spot to sleep on. He set down the pillow and laid out the bedsheet. "Goodnight, Kenji." he said as he tucked himself under the sheet. Kenji simply grunted, staring up at the ceiling. It took a few hours of silence, but Kenji did fall asleep.

 **CHAPTER 1 COMPLETE**

 **14 STUDENTS REMAIN**


	11. Chapter 2: Daily Life 1

Chapter 2: Together We Are, and Alone We Will Be. Daily Life 1 __

 _Ding dong, Bing bong._

"Gooooooooood morning, students! Isn't this another beautiful day at my University? Remember, there's going to be a special announcement in the dining room!" Monokuma said on the monitor, waking Kenji with an exhausted look on his face. The sleep hadn't helped. He still felt empty. Kenji sighed and swung his legs around, getting up only to trip and fall within seconds.

"Wah! Wh-what the?!" he exclaimed as he crashed onto Yukata, waking him up.

"Ack!"

"Shit! Sorry, Yukata! I forgot you were here!" Kenji said as the two two tried to disentangle from each other. They soon got up, Yukata putting a hand on his shoulder and stretching it.

"Morning, Kenji. I'll meet up with you at breakfast." Yukata said with a tired smile, leaving the dorm to get changed. Kenji changed into his usual clothes, refusing to so much as look at the Monokuma clothes as he got dressed and left his dorm. He made his way down to the Dining Hall, sitting with Haru and Yukata. Kiko walked across the table to Kenji, nuzzling up against him.

"Hey Kiko…" Kenji said, petting the small dog with a weak smile. Kiko let out a happy bark.

"Mornin' Kenji. Feelin' better?" Haru asked, Kenji letting out a distressed sigh.

"Not really, no. I didn't sleep all that well. I don't even feel sad or angry anymore. Just… nothing." he admitted, stroking Kiko's fur.

"Hey, if you want, we can play some cards after Monokuma's announcement." Yukata offered, Kenji letting out a groan. He had forgotten all about Monokuma's special morning announcement. "Yeah, I'm not looking forward to it either, but maybe it'll just be something stupid like he's added pizza to the lunch menu." he said, getting a low chuckle from Kenji.

"Guess so... " Kenji said, looking around to see everyone was there. Shiro was sat at his own table with face buried in a book. Bam, Setsuki and Hana were chatting together, Bam seeming to find his voice again. Reiko was alone, which suited her just fine as she tapped her bat against her shoulder, waiting for Monokuma. Dahlia was painting her fingernails with crimson red paint, somehow not smudging as she had one eye on Yukiji.

Yukiji was sat at Akira's table with her, Akami and Miho. Finally, Airi was coming in, drawing no attention as she found herself an empty table. As if on cue Monokuma suddenly appeared, bringing up a podium with him.

"Goooood morning, students! I know things are still… tense, after what happened the night before, so I'm going to be giving you folks a _lighter touch_ for a while before the next motive shows itself." He said, gesturing a light poking of the air for emphasis on 'lighter touch.' They reacted with silence as he held both arms behind his back.

"I came to announce that the school grounds you are allowed to wander has expanded! You will now be able to go to the campus outside of the building! You will also have access to your old labs, and the college the-AY-ter!" He said, pulling a beret behind his back and placing it on his head.

"Other buildings are still off limits though, fair warning."

"...What do you mean by our -old- labs, exactly?" Airi asked, her arms folded across her chest.

"Welll, I haven't been 100% upfront with you. See, you all probably still think you're first year students of Enoshima University. But, this is in fact… YOUR SECOND YEAR! CONGRATULATIONS!" Monokuma announced, streamers popping behind him.

"...Wait, a year? We've been here a year?! But, why don't I remember being here?!" Kenji said, shocked as everyone else was at the revelation.

"Well, if it were just you, I'd assume that was simple brain damage. But for sixteen, now fourteen. students it can't be so easy to wave off. The long n' short of it is… Ya got your memories wiped." He said, covering his mouth to stifle a giggle.

"W-what!? Why would you wipe our memories!?" Kenji shouted, anger billowing in his heart, but Monokuma just tilted his head.

"Hm? Oh. You asked for me to do it." He dropped almost casually, but that just made Kenji confused and upset, so Yukata spoke up.

"We did… Why? Why would we ever ask for that?" He asked, still stretching his shoulder.

"Hey hey hey, we're only one case in to this Killing Game, I'll explain everything to you as it becomes relevant. But until then? No spoiler questions!" He said, pretending to make a shush noise in front of his lips, and a collective groan from his audience.

"Regardless, the point is the labs you've all made are in the exact order you left them, they should fit your interests nicely! Go check them out, they're neat. I'll be minding my own business, so don't worry, kay?" He said, spinning in place before heading for the door. "Ooooh, and don't forget the theater, it's my favorite part." He said, peeking his head through the door before closing it and leaving the students alone for once.

Breakfast passed quietly, the students all heading off for the campus entrance. Kenji stopped by the MonoMono Machine, putting in five Monocoins and getting a model plane, strangely. He was starved for coins after the results of the trial. He'd see about trading the plane later for some spare coins. The doors opened up, allowing the students to breathe in fresh air for once. The actual campus grounds were beautifully cut grass, several Monokumas on riding mowers working to make the ground even. One Monokuma with a wig of wild black hair with a blonde streak laughed maniacally as he rode his mower, the students staring in confusion as it passed.

The feeling of an actual sun hitting them on the face, the fresh smell of cut grass just after the sprinklers turned on, and a breeze in Kenji's hair brought some life back to him after being inside that cruel building for at least a week. Setsuki cheered, running down the stairs, hopping onto the rail and landing onto the grass, rolling around like a dog.

"NATURE! YOU HAVE COME BACK TO MEEEEEEE!" She said, voice cracking in joy as Kiko arfed, running after her and joining her in rolling in the grass on her back, Haru started giving a hearty chuckle at that.

"Didn't think I'd miss outside so much." Yukata said, stretching his neck and walking along the cobblestone path to the center where a pompously posed monokuma was squirting water out of his mouth in the form of a marble statue. "...Wonder who builds all these?" He asked himself, before seeing engraved words on the statue.

 _Flip a monocoin into the fountain for the potential of a reward! You don't know til you try. 3  
\- Monokuma_

Yukata shrugged, pulling out a Monocoin and flipping it into the fountain. The splash of water was followed by a small rumble. The rumbling stopped and the Monokuma statue opened its mouth, shooting out a small bag of gummy worms into the fountain. The statue let out a laugh before shutting its mouth. "...Huh." he said, reaching into the fountain to claim his prize, which were soaked from the water, but still good in the plastic wrap.

"..It just gives you gummies?" Yukata muttered out, confused. He stuffed the gummies in his outer jacket pocket and kept walking down the path. The students kept walking down the cobblestone path, Dahlia suddenly peeling off and running for the shade of a large oak tree. Akira stopped, spotting this and walking over to her.

"What's up, Dahlia?" she asked, Dahlia hyperventilating a bit before regaining her composure.

"Ah… accursed sun was bearing down upon for me too long! A vampire of such a pure bloodline such as I may be resistant to the sun for what could may be a few minutes, but my power has diminished! I require a parasol!" Dahlia said, Akira looking at her in confusion.

"...What?" she asked.

"A parasol! To guard me from the sun! I could feel the warmth within me! Any longer and my body would smoke up, my veins would boil and my flesh will turn to ash!" Dahlia shrieked.

"Well… there aren't really any parasols on the school grounds…"

"Then bring me some form of protection! I cannot stay under this shade all day!" Dahlia said with a grimace, Akira having to think quickly.

"Hey! Yukata!" she shouted, calling him over to the tree.

"...She better not eat my gummies." Yukata grumbled as they rejoined the group, Dahlia wrapped tightly around his duster with a cheerful smile.

"Fear not, young Watanabe. I owe you a debt of eternal gratitude for offering your duster. A vampire will always return the favor of a boon!" 

"Just… Make sure I get that back." Yukata said, annoyed at having only one coat on. Akira sighed and shook her head, glad to just have the group moving again.

"Nice work, Akira. I would've probably left her there…" said a voice coming up to her. Akira turned to see Airi.

"Uh… thanks Airi! I uhh.. I like making sure things don't get too… complicated." Akira said.

"Wait… did Airi just compliment you?" Yukata asked, Airi rolling her eyes.

"I'm not entirely without emotions, ya know. I just don't like being around people. It's probably better that way. Not getting too attached." Airi said, hands in her pockets. "Akira showed her competency yesterday at the trial, so she deserves some recognition for it. She solved the case."

"Yeah…" Akira said, looking down at the ground.

"You still feel guilty about what happened to Emi." Airi said with certainty.

"It's pretty obvious, isn't it? It makes me wish I wasn't right." Akira asked.

"The reason we're alive is because you were right, Akira. You saved 13 other people, don't forget that." Airi said, Akira looking up.

"Yeah, that's true… still sucks, though." she said.

"Oh, I don't doubt that. And if Monokuma's little mind games keep working, it's probably gonna get worse. But we can't give him the satisfaction of knowing that he's hurting us. We gotta keep our heads up if we wanna make it out of here." Airi said with a small smile, Akira smiling back.

"Thanks, Airi. I needed that." she said, the group stopping at a split in the path, divided by signs. To the left was marked **LABS** and to the right was **MONOKUMA THEATER.** There were other paths, but the entrances were blocked off with little Monokumas in construction hats.

"Is that the the-ay-ter?" Hana asked, mimicking how Monokuma said it earlier.

"...It's theater." Shiro said, annoyed.

"I know that! I was… uhh.. Saying it funny on purpose." She said, clearly lying about the fact she's never been to a theater in her life. She stuck her tongue out at Shiro, who simply ignored her.

"So, where should we go first?" Yukiji asked. Many of the students had the same answer, they wanted to see the labs, mostly to see what they looked like, though some were curious if anything that would make them remember their lost year would be in the labs. So the students went left, following the cobblestone to the labs. The path lead them to a large white and black two-floor building with a sign in front of it labeled **Enoshima University Student Research & Development Labs**

They stepped up to the building, seeing a small plastic table with two Monopads and sixteen small black plastic cards with the Enoshima University crest. "Ahhh, of course you chose the labs first! Really breaks my heart to see you kids have no appreciation for the arts!" Monokuma exclaimed as he appeared at the entrance door of the lab, miming crying.

"We'll investigate the Monokuma Theater in time, but I assume it's nothing more than a simple amphitheater. We're far more interested in the labs." Shiro said bluntly.

"Fiiine, I can't stop you, so I'll just tell you to pick up your keycard! It's the only way to get into your lab!" Monokuma explained before vanishing. Everyone gathered around the table, grabbing their keycards and entering single file, at Akira's request, into the main building. On each side were four doors, meaning that there eight labs on the floor.

"The other labs must be on the second floor." Airi observed. "Eight on each floor, four on each side, Sixteen total."

"So, where do we start?" Kenji asked. The group looked at each door, marked with nameplates like the dorm room doors. Yukiji pulled out his card, scanning it to open it. Inside was a windowless sheer white room, sterile in detail with a single table in the center, two chairs tucked in across each other. On the table was a chessboard and timer, a vending machine sat in the corner stocked with KitKats and bottles of cold milk.

"...I like it." Yukiji said with a huge other students, while stunned at how empty the lab was, were happy to see it. It meant there was a chance their labs would be equally suited for them. Yukiji headed in, taking a seat at the table and practicing strategies. The rest of the students went down the left hall, stopping at each lab.

Next was Miho's lab, which resembled a gym with a wrestling ring in the center, mats on the floor around it. There were doors that were marked as "Shower" and "Locker Room" at the far end. "Awww yeah! Now I can fall off stuff without looking like a crazy person!" Miho shouted ecstatically, running for the ring, leaping through the top and second rope with ease and landing with a roll onto a single knee, pointing to the lights over the ring, like she almost rehearsed that move many times.

Next was Kenji's lab. "This is your lab, Taisei? It looks like a dump." Shiro said, and as much as Kenji didn't want to hear anything from Shiro, he couldn't disagree with the assessment. The lab was a hodgepodge of various items, almost like Kenji used the room to just put away stuff he wasn't using at the time. There was a garden hoe, bags of plant soil, a chemistry set, and other random knick knacks on the floor and walls, the room wasn't even painted. It felt more like a warehouse or a storage shed than a lab.

"W-what happened to mine!?" Kenji asked, but Monokuma popped behind him to quickly answer.

"You were never the type to… be alone, obviously! You spent your time with others, since you're the Ultimate Volunteer, it's obvious it would be this hodgepodge. Puhuhuhu~" Monokuma said, giggling as he disappeared again. Kenji sighed in annoyance.

"Well, guess I won't be staying at my lab." Kenji said before heading off for the fourth lab along the left hall. This one was Yukata's, which he opened up to find it resembled a card game shop with displays for several decks and tables with playing mats layed out.

"Oh man! There's so many deck types!" Yukata said, running in and opening displays to look over each deck. "Everyone's getting a deck on me!" he said, waving decks in his hands. Kenji laughed, giving Yukata a thumbs up.

"I'll play ya after we've checked all the labs!" he said, Yukata shooting back a thumbs up of his own. The group, now with three less students, made their way to the right hall. First was Shiro's lab, looking like a smaller version of the library, with shelves of books lining the walls. One section had been left untouched by books; inside was a finely polished mahogany desk with a globe on one side and a small reading lamp on the other. Shiro stepped in, smiling as he breathed in.

"Hmm, there's even a slight fragrance of peppermint to the room. Yes, this certainly is my lab." Shiro said, unaware of Kenji walking in until he spotted him looking over one of the bookshelves. "And what do you think you're doing, Taisei?" he asked, sneering.

"There's something familiar about these bookshelves…" Kenji said, rubbing his chin in thought.

"It's possible that Emi had built them last year. The desk looks to be imported, however." Shiro noted. "Now, if you don't mind, I would prefer my lab remain private." he said, Kenji getting up and walking out. "I will be in my lab if anyone needs me. Please, don't need me." Shiro said as he shut the lab door. Kenji took that as a good sign. Shiro having his own private place to read meant they might be able to get the library back.

Next was Akami's lab, opening up found what looked more like a professional boutique. There was a single chair next to a makeup table with a wall of mirrors, bright lights, and a music system nearby. Akami put a hand to his chest in shock. "It's like Heaven…" he said silently.

"You gonna head in?" Akira asked, Akami shaking his head.

"No, not until I absolutely need it. Without anyone to perform my art in that chair, it's just brushes and powder. I'll need a canvas, but I assume that will come in time." Akami said, Akira nodding.

"Then I guess we go to the next lab." she said, leading them own the hall and stopping at Emi's lab. "Huh… well, I guess we can't go in since none of us grabbed her keycard." Akira said, until she saw Kenji place a card on the scanner.

"I grabbed it off the table while everyone was getting theirs. I also snagged Rio's key." he explained, reaching for the doorknob when Akira stopped him, grabbing his hand.

"Hand on, Kenji. Maybe we should save those for last. We still got a lot of labs to look through and no one's going to claim labs from someone not here with us." she said, Kenji looking at her and nodding.

"Good point, we'll come back to it later." Kenji said, heading up the stairs to the second floor They continued as they did before, starting at the left hall with Akira's lab. It was the opposite of Kenji's in every way, a meticulously organized room with with full filing cabinets, a small holding cell in the corner, a computer sat on the desk and handcuffs nailed to the wall. Finishing off the room was a small coffee machine on the counter.

"Oh my God, coffee!" Akira said, running over and hugging the coffee machine as if it were a long-lost lover. "I missed you, coffee! You're the only partner I need~" she squealed in joy. Everyone stared at her in bewilderment before slowly backing away.

 **Akira Kazue. Ultimate Caffeine Addict.**

The group headed to Dahlia's 'lab' which they at first confused for a medieval dungeon. It was oppressively dark within, a lone table draped in a dark red tablecloth with black spiderweb patterns on the fringes sat in the center with a chandelier looming over it. Kenji tried the switch, only getting a dim light which made it easier to see, but kept the room in darkness. There was a bookshelf with books bound in black leather, chains hanging from the walls surrounding a large ebony wood coffin, inside of which was a mattress covered in red sheets with a bat shaped pillow.

"O~hohohoho! This room has haunted my nightmares for so long and now I truly understand why! It has been calling for me to return to my domain! My eternity is meant to be spent here!" Dahlia squealed in delight, spinning around the room and swooning. "Ahh~ Young Taisei, catch me before I faint!" she said as she began to fall back, Kenji quickly catching her before she hit the floor.

"Ohhhh~ I have not felt bliss such as this in decades…" Dahlia said as she stood herself up and walked over to the coffin, climbing in and reaching for the lid. "Please, leave me to my torpor. I must rest to recharge after my horrible experience with the sun." she requested, shutting the lid over her, an obscene amount of dust flying off the coffin as it closed.

"I swear, she just keeps getting weirder..." Kenji said as they walked off. They stopped at Airi's lab, Airi rushing in and shutting the lab door before anyone could see anything inside. Kenji looked at the others, who simply shrugged.

"Eh, it probably wouldn't be much better than yours, Kenji. I mean, what are you gonna put in the lab of the Ultimate Lucky Student? Four-leaf clovers and horseshoes?" Hana joked as they walked up to her lab next. Inside it looked like half of a basketball court, showing the center, the 3 point zone and the hoop with a fully stocked rack of basketballs on one side and a cheap wooden TABLE with a microphone on the other. "HELL YEH! TIME FOR UPS! C'mon, Bam!" she shouted as she rushed into the court with Bam following after her.

"Well, guess we won't need to visit Bam's lab." Haru said as they went to the right hall. Setsuki unlocked her lab, which looked more like an indoor skate park with plenty of rails and ramps, skateboards, scooters, pads and helmets. "Whoo! This is so hype!" she said, throwing down her board and shredding to her heart's content, until she tried to throw her board in the air, and land on it before she hit the ground, hitting her face and sliding on the ground.

"The best part about falling down is GETTING BACK UP!" she shouted, getting back to her feet and skating some more. They left her to her skating, passing by Bam's lab to Haru's. On the floor was a small ramp up to a series of tunnels, jumps, fences, a little doggy bed, and a complete obstacle course for Kiko to stay fit while trapped in this school. Pictures of dogs were painted on the side of the wall, which was painted to mimic the sky. Though the room smelled like stale dog food. Kiko ran straight in, running the course with her little doggy legs, Haru chuckling.

"Welp! Looks like Kiko loves it already! I'll see you guys later!" Haru said, heading into the lab. The last lab on the floor was Reiko's. Inside was something like a motorcycle shop with a half-finished bike, wrenches and screwdrivers on the counter, a rack of different weapons and fridge.

"Oh, fuck YES!" Reiko said, glee breaking through her rough demeanor as she opened up the fridge. "Kenji, just you fuckin' wait until I get one of these bikes running. We'll jump off a ramp to the goddamn moon." she stated, pulling out a can of root beer and began to chug two at once like a savage.

"Well, looks like we have two more labs…" Akami said as he and Kenji walked down the stairs. "Maybe we should split the keycards." he suggested.

"Sure, Kenji said. Handing him Rio's keycard as they hit the stairs. Kenji walked over to Emi's lab again, taking a deep breath as he put his hand to the doorknob. "Come on, Kenji… it's just a lab. You've seen 14 of them today. One more's not gonna hurt…" he said to psyche himself up before opening the door. He shut his eyes as he walked into the lab, opening to see a miniature version of the third floor with rows of tools racked up and perfectly organized on the walls, but with smaller, more precision instruments, and measuring tools mixed in. Along with that were workbenches with sheets of paper laid out or crumpled up in a trash barrel.

"So, this is Emi's… huh?" He asked aloud, feeling something in the back of his head telling him that if he took another step in, he would feel himself grow sadder. He ignored it, he needed to keep going. He had to try and drive this despair into the dirt and crush it, or it would be there forever. So, he looked closer at what he saw around the lab. They were… pictures. Pictures of every student in Enoshima University.

Some of which he didn't recognize, but 15 of the students were together in front of the gates of the dorm, holding the sign for 'Class 36, Straight A's for days!' Though the strange part was.. The 16th student he didn't recognize. It was a boy with white hair and a baseball cap, standing on the right of Kenji, who was holding the sign.

Other pictures were at odds with the people he knew at this school. One had Reiko and Miho arm wrestling while Akira kept score.. Everyone looked to be smiling, a far cry from Reiko's scowling thug demeanour. There was Yukiji and Dahlia in Yukiji's lab, playing chess together. There was one of him and Shiro, walking through the halls, both were smiling, though Shiro's looked more to be a friendly smirk, as they looked to be talking. "N-no, this is bullshit. These are all fake. M-Monokuma faked these… there's no way-" he stopped as he saw one last picture.

It was him and Emi, sitting on a wooden swing together, hands clasped together with a happy look on their faces, behind them, someone stole Akira's hat, the boy in the baseball cap, and she was chasing him around. "It's… they're real…" Kenji said, the picture fading from his eyes as it got blurry from feeling the sting of tears in them, he looked back up at the dim workshop, gently pulling his sweater open and tucking the picture into the pocket of his shirt, before looking at the floor.

"Kenji?" A voice asked from the door frame. Kenji turned to see Akira standing there.

"Oh, h-hey Akira… how's… enjoy your lab?" he said, struggling to speak as his voice cracked.

"Kenji, what are you doing here?" she asked, walking over to him. Her voice made it clear she was worried, Kenji tried to force the tears back.

"J-just… wanted to make sure we saw all the labs. Akami's… Akami's in Rio's lab." he said, rubbing his eyes into his sleeve. "All this sawdust is killing my eyes…"

"Kenji… you suck at lying, you know…" she said, putting a hand on his shoulder.

"I know.. I just… I miss her." Kenji admitted, shrugging her off.

"We all do, Kenji. But you've been taking it so much harder. You gotta stop dwelling on it before it eats you up." she said, sweeping a hand over the workshop. "This… isn't… Kenji, what is this?" Akira asked as she looked at the pictures. "Is that… are those… us?"

"Yeah… I don't have any context but…" Kenji said, taking the picture back out of his pocket. "I think me and Emi were… together." He said, looking away from Akira as she inspected the picture, getting a sullen look in her eyes as she looked up at him.

"I wish I was that Kenji. Everything seemed great… All of you seem great. I don't get why the fuck we're here, two of us are dead and… we don't know when this will stop." Kenji said, Akira looking away from him and looking back to the picture.

"Wait… who's that? In the baseball cap?" Akira asked.

"Huh? I… I don't know. I've seen him in a few pictures. Like that one." Kenji said, pointing at the Class 36 picture.

"Huh… that's so weird… I don't think I've seen him here before… maybe he dropped out?" Akira guessed.

"Maybe…" Kenji said.

"...We can't let anyone see these pictures. I feel like it might cause more violence between us." Akira said.

"Yeah… but what about the Baseball Kid?" Kenji asked, Akira grabbing the group photo.

"No offense… but if he isn't here, he doesn't matter to us right now." Akira said, walking over to a drawer and stuffing photos into it, except for the one Kenji was still holding. "You… you can keep that one if you promise me something."

"Yeah?" Kenji asked warily.

"You can't ever going into this lab again. Ever." she said firmly, holding a hand out.

"But-" Kenji was about to object.

"Kenji, this place is just going to hurt you. I know you like to feel like you know what you're doing but... It just feels like you're being haunted by a phantom of something we will never feel again. Wishing for stuff that we can't reach… there's no joy in that, ever." she said, keeping her hand out. "Please, just give me the keycard. Promise me you won't come back."

Kenji stood there, looking at her open palm with hesitation before finally handing Akira the keycard. "Okay… I promise." he said, eyes still bloodshot as he walked off, putting the picture back in his pocket.


	12. Chapter 2: Daily Life 2

Chapter 2: Together we are, and alone we will be Daily life 2 

Akira decided to leave Kenji alone for now, as he decided to return to the main dorm building. She headed back to the hall where all the other labs were and took her cup of black coffee off the end table she placed it on, taking another sip, when a voice that isn't known for speaking to her caught her attention.

"Officer Kazue, I request your assistance." Shiro said at the end of the hall. Akira showed some apprehension, but replied to him regardless.

"Oh, Shiro! You need my help?" She said with a feigned smile, hoping to not be in the reticle of one of his long winded 'I'm better than you' spiels. He turned away from her, heading back down the hall, heading to the entrance of his lap and opening the door to allow her in.

"It's related to my personal study. You're probably the most willing out of the people here to assist me." He stated, Akira walking into the door and leaning inside. It was the same as the last time she saw it, neat books lining the shelves, a leather couch, a desk with a small lamp, along with a globe.

"What's the issue?" Akira asked, Shiro walking over and running his finger along the shelves as he spoke to her.

"If this is truly my lab, then I would have sorted these books in an order more befitting of my personal style." He stated, pulling out a book and reading the title of it, before sliding it back onto the shelves.

"...And what's your personal style?" Akira asked, lips buried in her mug of coffee between words.

"Alphanumerical. These are sorted by genre, with alphabetical subsections." Shiro stated, but Akira just blinked a couple of times.

"Will having the books sorted like this inconvenience you?" Akira asked, Shiro sighing softly as he began to remove books from the shelves.

"It will take longer for me to find things, I have a very specific way of doing things, and just being in this room is frustrating me." He said, stacking the books on the floor as he cleared shelves. "Do you have the time to help me get some peace of mind?" he asked, Akira was still shaken a bit by dealing with Kenji earlier, so she considered it.

"Honestly.. Doing a task this monotonous kind of… makes me feel at ease." Akira said with a sigh, tentatively walking to the bookshelf beside him and matching his movements, removing books from the shelves.

"And why would that be?" Shiro asked, dusting books off as he removed them, going to the next row. Akira started going faster than him as she removed books like she was a machine.

"Remember how my title is Ultimate Police Cadet? I was still being then apprentice to the chief of police, since I'm not old enough to have tenure." She stated, removing her books from the shelf, and waiting for Shiro to finish as she spoke. "My job was mostly… handling paperwork. Signing things, keeping records and logs of inventory usage, budgets, signing affidavits, cataloguing evidence… 90% of police work is paperwork, and that was 100% of my job." Akira stated, Shiro nodding as he finished his bookshelf, going to the next one, Akira matching him.

Akira continued, since it seemed like Shiro was actually listening. "I always did it with a drive to my heart, because I thought if I got through enough of the paperwork… The officer I was a partner to would take me on a real job." She added, Shiro nodding some as the books began to pile around his feet on the floor in neat stacks.

"I ended up here before that could happen though. But… I wonder what's happened in the year that I've been gone. I hope they didn't demote me…" She said, looking down at the floor as she stacked her books.

"That reminds me." Shiro stated, dusting his gloves off before continuing so his hand wouldn't slip any books out of his hands. "The first thing I thought when I woke up out of my locker, and discovered this killing game was 'was this a political move?' I thought… perhaps someone wanted to stop my career by having me here." He began to speak, Akira slowly going back to her work as it felt like the shelf sorting became faster.

"But… There was something my father said to me when I first became a part of my uncle's cabinet. Emotions and logic have no place beside each other in the world of policy." He stated, finally done with another shelf, and going to the next one. "The actions of the controller of Monokuma is not actions of logic. There's no real reason or advantage he could have gained from imprisoning us and forcing us into a killing game." He continued.

Akira switched shelves, now about halfway done. "If we eliminate logic from his reasoning, then it would appear Monokuma is keeping us trapped here for an emotional reason. Perhaps catharsis, perhaps pleasure…" He drifted off slightly, Akira thinking for a minute.

"Could someone get pleasure from despair?" Akira asked, but Shiro thought for a minute, looking at the room full of books on the floor.

"That's a possibility… So if that was their intention, with all the cameras in the building, they probably want us to hate each other. They want us to fight… They want us to suffer." Shiro mused, Akira looking at the ground and thinking.

"Then… why cause Kenji distress? Maybe we should work together, so we don't have to worry as much about who hates who?" She replied, hand grasping at her own shirt as she spoke. "And… that statement about kindness and intellect having no place with each other. Who gave you that idea?"

Shiro guided her over to his pile of books and stated quickly, before he could explain further. "Alphabetical order. A, then AA, and so forth." He spoke, Akira slowly picking up books and putting them on shelves after reading over each title.

"My cousin's father was the Prime Minister of Japan. He was a kind, well respected man with good ideals, despite the fact he didn't always have the best ideas, he had good men, with high regards. But… Everyone knew his kindness. The hard nosed, experienced politicians knew that his kindness would make him manipulated… His kindness would cause some to suffer, because whoever got to him first and appealed to his heart would influence him, and cause someone suffering just because he wanted to help." Shiro spoke, reaching down to grab books and help Akira.

"He accepted money from a donor who wanted him to pass a certain bill into law… Not knowing that it was to the donor's benefit, then got caught commiting insider trading, and embezzlement, all because he cared too much to distrust someone who spoke to. Being a politician is about being as a stone. Moved by none, influenced by little. Your morals are supposed to be the pillar of Japan… and yet all the people I've met had a blind side thanks to their kindness." Shiro continued, but Akira furrowed her brow somewhat.

"You act like… someone couldn't have their wits about them while caring for others? Why are they mutually exclusive?" Akira asked, but Shiro just sneered his lip slightly as he spoke.

"It's why I hate Taisei. I can tell he's a decent kid, who has his head screwed on correctly… But his kindness, his reputation as the Ultimate Volunteer nearly got us killed. His heart clouded his logic, and couldn't strike the final blow when the cards were down. His judgement fails as soon as he has to doubt someone he likes." Shiro said, closing his eyes and clasping a book hard enough to echo in the room.

"I hate that. The truth can be difficult, but… to deny it because it hurts your feelings? Unforgivable. 13 people could have died because he couldn't accept the idea that one of us commited a murder that night. And not just any one. The one he cared about the most. He voted for me because he let his hatred for me make his choice..." Shiro growled, Akira stopping to look at him.

"I… I think you're both wrong." Akira said with determination in her eyes. "People can be kind without having to throw away their personality and wits. They just have to be the right people to do it… Someone who can accept both responsibility, and sacrifice." Akira replied, but Shiro just looked at her with a stoic look on his face.

"I know that… I don't hate Taisei because he's below me… He's part of the people I'm supposed to represent. Japan as a greater whole, but… I'm not going to let him and his emotions kill us. We can't feel our way out of this killing game. We need actions, and Taisei's actions are wrong." He said, going to the next shelf and continuing to sort books.

"I can't say that's wrong… but it's hypocritical." Akira said. "You let your emotions decide your actions. Maybe not as much as Kenji, but you've lost control before. I've only recently recovered from that knee to the gut." she pointed out.

"I won't pretend that I'm not human or free of errors. I simply have better control over my emotions than Taisei. My attack on you was simply a brief lapse and I do apologize. I panicked." Shiro said. The two finished stacking books, Akira dusting off her hands. "Ah, perfect. Thank you, Kazue. I must admit, I quite enjoyed that."

"Really? Cool, you're welcome." Akira said, surprised at how pleasant Shiro was being.

"A politician has to be challenged, have his viewpoints attacked to truly understand what he values. One who refuses to buckle under pressure is simply a stubborn ass." he said, pushing his glasses up. "Now then, I'll need a bit of peace while I read. You're dismissed, Kazue."

Akira shrugged and headed off, heading for her lab to finally take inventory of her lab when the door to Dahlia's lab burst open. "O~hohohoho! Yes, I have not rested like that in decades!" she said, smiling a fanged grin. Akira tilted her head a the Ultimate Vampiress. Centuries, decades, a millenium. Wasn't she still a teenager?

"How… how old are you, Dahlia?" she asked, puzzled.

"Oh! Officer Kazue, I know you have not walked this mortal earth for even a quarter of my years, but I figured you would have learned that it is improper to ask a lady her age…" Dahlia said with a coy smile. "But, if you grant me permission to your lab, then I shall regale with the tale of my rebirth if you wish." she offered.

"Uh… sure. If it makes you feel any better, doing the math of that missing year, I'd be 19." Akira said as she went back into her lab, Dahlia following and sitting on the counter.

"Fuhuhuhuhu… I have no need for the missing year. Barring the year that foul ursine demon took from us, I remember all my years. I still remember that I was born of an English mother and Japanese father when explorer William Adams and his crew were taken in by Japan before the Tokugawa clan shut down the nation in 1639. My mother was the one who raised me, but I always had a certain wanderlust. I wanted to meet my dear father and I did find a way as another English ship came to shore, offering to bring me with them in exchange for labor. I may not have been the alluring beauty who sits before you, but I was still considered cute enough to bring along." Dahlia said, putting a hand over her mouth and giggling.

Akira, instead of responding just stared at her, brows scrunched with concern.

"For a year, my last year of humanity, I served faithfully aboard the HMS Diamond Supreme, as a navigator and translator for the crew of transporters in the Caribbean Sea, but we were raided by pirates, not just any pirates… immortal, vampiric pirates. They had killed and devoured the crew, but the Dread Captain Blackmoon had taken an eye to me. He had his men force me onto the ship and into his quarters and it was there that he put it on me… that mask…" Dahlia said, fingers tightening on the edge of the counter.

Akira, still incredulous, put a pinky in her right ear, swiveling it around a bit. "Mask…?"

"Indeed. Many believe that vampires are born through a simple bite, but my rebirth involved a ritual of a cursed mask. A mask that looked to be of simple carved stone under the moonlight cast in the open window of his dark quarters. He bit into my right hand to draw out my blood and forced the bloody palm onto the mask. I screamed in pain, but I did not know that my true pain would come until the mask hooked onto my face. The burning pain of rebirth, my humanity shedding itself from my visage, rejecting my soul from the light of the world and coating me in a veil of blood, shadows, and moonlight."

Akira thought to herself 'I don't know if she wants me to believe it, or she's trying to believe it herself.'

"I had become a vampire and over time would serve as cabin girl for Captain Blackmoon's ship before finally being given leave when we came ashore in England. It was in those years that I gained my new name of Dahlia Kurotsuki, the captain taking me in as his daughter. When I parted, my undead father gave me the parting gift of the mask that gave me new life. Though since I was insufficient funds in my new home, I sold the mask to a young woman, Mary, who had given birth to a darling baby some months before. But I could tell my tale for a century and never even reach my return to Japan. I simply thank you for your time, Officer Kazue. If there is anything I can do for you in return, ask of it." Dahlia offered, Akira standing before her in a daze from trying to follow that whole story.

"Huh? Favor? Oh! Well… I want you to do me a solid and not bother Yukiji. I understand how you feel about him, that you like him… But I don't think stalking him is going to make him any less uncomfortable." she said, Dahlia's coy smile slowly fading.

"Why, Officer Kazue. I did promise during the fallen Nakayama's trial that I would no longer breathe over his sleeping body, did I not? And I have kept to that promise." she said matter-of-factly.

"Well, yeah. But that's because the doors are locked. You still keep staring at him during meals, you follow him around in the halls. The only place he probably feels safe in is his lab because he's got the keycard and can keep you out." Akira said, Dahlia's brow furrowing with anger.

"So! You are saying that I should never see or speak to Yukiji again. Never be with that wonderful, handsome, soft-spoken boy for as long as I live, and need I remind you that is longer than THE WORLD? Is that what you ask of me, KAZUE?!" Dahlia shouted, jumping off the counter, eyes cold with anger. Akira backed up into her desk as Dahlia advanced on her, fangs bared out. In this state, Dahlia looked like a real vampire, even as the plastic fangs hung loose from her gums.

"N-no! That's not it! I-I just… maybe try respecting his personal space! If he doesn't feel comfortable around you, he won't want to be around you." Akira said, Dahlia glaring daggers at her before storming off with nothing more than a "hmph!" in response. Akira breathed a sigh of relief and went to get another cup of coffee before grabbing her trusty notebook and categorizing the contents of her lab.

After a half-hour of organizing and writing everything down, Akira headed off, walking along the halls when she heard the roll of wheels along the floor, turning to be crashed into by Setsuki, both hitting the floor. "Ack! What the?!" Akira said as she looked up at Setsuki, grinning as she got up and dusted herself off.

"Yo, KiKi! You wanna ride?" Setsuki asked, flipping her board into her hand and offering her other hand to Akira. Akira took it and stood back up.

"...Well, I don't really know how to-" before Akira could object, Setsuki was dragging her to the lab.

"It ain't hard to shred, Party Cop! C'mon! Lab's ready!" Setsuki said as they stopped at her lab, throwing the door open. She jumped back onto her board, rolling off to grab a board, helmet and pads for Akira. Akira put on the helmet and pads, setting one foot on the board with full acceptance of the fact that she was going to eat floor. She inhaled, leaning in and slipping straight off the board.

"A-aah!" Akira said, sliding on the floor a few feet, before coming to terms with her lack of shred skill. "This was the worst idea…" she said, lying on the floor as Setsuki jumped over her body with ease.

"Don't worry, KiKi! Sometimes you gotta eat shit before you really feel the Hype!" Setsuki reassured her

"Wh-what?! I don't wanna eat shit!" Akira cried out, mortified.

"It's a metaphor, dummy! Extreme-ness is like.. 90% being a huge loser and hurting yourself, and then doing the other 10% on camera, and looking awesome in front of everyone else! Also, 5% wearing neat logo tees!" Setsuki said, landing a front flip over the prone Akira.

"That's 105%! Your percentages are off! Stop doing sick tricks over me!" Akira shouted, feeling her reputation take a nosedive once more. After a few more pop shuvits, kickflips, and nonconsensual no complys from Setsuki and about ten more faceplants from Akira, the two stopped and headed to the vending machine for a water break.

"You have the most durable face. Why do you still have all your teeth?" Akira asked, thankful for the helmet stopping her from landing hard on her incisors.

"Mouth guards! SPONSORED mouth guards!" Setsuki said, grinning and twisting off the plastic bottle cap with her teeth.

"So, you talk about the Hype a lot. What is the Hype? Is it like Hana's Mojo?" Akira asked.

"Hype is about feeling. It's about wanting to do something because you feel it! No reason, no logic, you just feel it and do it!" Setsuki explained.

"So… it's just about doing whatever you feel like doing?" Akira asked further.

"Yeah! It's how I keep up my positive vibes! By riding the Hype!" she said, chugging down some water.

"...Hey, Setsuki. Are you doing alright? You… kind of… changed during the case." Akira said carefully, not wanting to upset Setsuki. Setsuki stopped drinking her water, taking the bottle off her lips.

"Yeah, I'm doing alright. I guess it just… really hit me how bad things were. I mean, the bolted windows and the evil bear plush yelling at us to kill each other were one thing… but seeing Rio's body like that… it made things real to me. It made everything Monokuma said real. We're stuck here and the only way out is to get everyone killed. I want things to be alright again, I want us to all live. I feel like the only way Monokuma would lose is if he doesn't get what he wants." Setsuki said, looking down.

Akira clapped her on the shoulder. "Then we won't give him what he wants. We're gonna keep fighting and we're gonna get out of here." She said with a smile of reassurance, Setsuki smiled faintly

"I mean… I like the idea of trusting each other, but… You saw what happened with Emi. I thought she was the most on board with the working together program. Then she went crazy, and thought there was a Mastermind." Setsuki said glumly.

"I know, but that doesn't mean we're all gonna go crazy. There's still 14 of us and one Monokuma. We can beat him!" Akira said, raising a fist. Setsuki smiled and bumped it.

"Yeah!" Setsuki said cheerfully, Akira smiling back. "We're gonna grind Monokuma to dust! Now c'mon! We've got rails to practicing grindin' on!" she said before grabbing Akira and dragging her toward the rails.

Akira couldn't fathom the amount of bruises she got riding around with Setsuki over just a few short hours. She thought a shower was in order, but the walk back from the labs to the campus was too daunting for her. "Hrm, by the time I get back to the campus, the others will probably have used up all the hot water…" she grumbled as she headed down to the first floor, stopping as she walked along the left hall. 'I think Miho's lab has a shower…' Akira thought, knocking on the door. "Hey, Miho? You there?" she asked, giving another few knocks when there was no answer.

Akira checked the doorknob, feeling it turn and opening it to find no one inside. "Uh… Miho? Hello? You in?" she said as she looked around. The ring was empty, none of the exercise equipment was out, it looked more like it had never been touched. Akira turned poked her head out, seeing Akami pass by. "Uh, Akami? You see Miho anywhere?" she asked.

"No, I was just heading off for dinner and to wrap up for the night." he said. "You think something's gone wrong? I hope we don't have another Rio on our hands…" he said.

"I hope so too, Akami. I'm gonna check her showers real quick. Lemme know if you see at the campus." Akira said, Akami giving her a thumbs up before heading off. Akira headed for the shower door, trepidation taking control briefly as she turned it, hearing the click. She opened the door slowly to find an empty shower room lined with showers and towels set on a nearby bench. Akira breathed a sigh of relief, putting a hand to her chest.

"Thank God… just a shower room…" Akira said quietly.

"Hey, Akira! What's up?" came a voice behind Akira, causing her to yelp as she turned around, seeing Miho standing behind her, just her hair wrapped in a towel, leaving the rest of her body nude.

"Ahh! M-Miho!" Akira said, face heating up as she froze in place. "I-I wasn't! Y-your door was open and- a-and I thought you w-were-" she stammered out before Miho chuckling.

"Hey, you gonna grab a towel or do you wanna just keep gawking at me all night?" Miho said with a wink.

"Wh-what?! I'm not! You just… You have all… things… you.. Uhm… uhhhhhhh…." Akira said, words not able to escape her mouth. Miho just began to giggle, covering her mouth.

"You're such a trainwreck! I love it." Miho said teasingly.

"I-I'm not a trainwreck! You're naked!" Akira squeaked out.

"Yeah.. it's a shower. In my lab. Now, are we gonna shower or are you gonna go Invader #1 on me?" Miho asked, grabbing a towel and throwing it onto Akira's head.

"...Huh? Invader #1?" Akira asked, lifting the towel off her head and turning to see Miho walk over and start turning on showers.

"Heh, do you know the basics of wrestling, at least? Eating your vitamins, saying your prayers? All that crap? That's like… baseline wrestling." Miho joked, Akira scowling a bit, furrowing her brow in thought.

"Invader #1… was an alien!" Akira guessed with conviction in her voice, Miho laughing at how wrong it was.

"Not even close! Now, get in your shower before the hot water runs out." Miho said, shutting one of the shower doors, there was a partition that let Akira see Miho's face, but thankfully for her hid the rest of her body so they could have a relatively normal conversation. Miho told Akira several old wrestling stories she had heard over the years, from the humorous to the horrifying.

"...Oh… oh God… poor Brody…" Akira said.

"Yeah, it's a real shit story, but that stuff's few and far between in wrestling." Miho said as she worked up a fresh lather in her hair.

"Speaking of, why did you get into wrestling?" Akira asked, Miho tapping her chin in thought.

"I think I loved how dramatic everything is. Everything's so exaggerated and easy to follow when I was a kid, I only realized how cheesy it was when I was growing up, but I was infatuated with it. It's a stage play with kicks, opera where you throw someone through a chainlink fence. It's like… fighting, but the fight is always dramatic! There's no dud fights unless the wrestler themselves suck." Miho explained.

"Wow… I didn't think wrestling had that kind of power." Akira said sheepishly.

"Anything can have that power if you're invested in it. It's why I hate it when people call wrestling fake. Yeah, it's scripted and the matches are predetermined, but just calling it all fake is telling me that I'm wrong to care and that the thing I love doesn't matter. People spend all of their lives to try and entertain people, and most of them get injured for it." Miho said, shutting off her shower. "Ahh! That hit the spot! Now, whaddya saw we grab a bite at the Dining Hall?"

"Sure, just give me a couple minutes to rinse." Akira said, hearing footsteps leaving the shower room as she finished up, shutting off the shower and grabbing her towel to dry off.


	13. Chapter 2: Daily Life 3

_Ding Dong Bing Bong_

"Goooood morning, students! Get ready for another beautiful day here at Enoshima University!" came another Monokuma wake up call. Kenji rolled out of bed, eyelids heavy as he shuffled around Yukata, still asleep on the floor. He got on a new pair of clothes. "Yukata, it's morning…" Kenji said, hovering over Yukata.

"Unh… I don't wanna go to camp, mom… there's bees…" Yukata mumbled as he slept. Kenji shook his head, reaching over Yukata and grabbing the pillow off his bed. He tossed it right at Yukata's head. "Gah! Kenji!"

"There ya go. Come on, man. It's morning." Kenji said, dodging Yukata's pillow counterattack. "Good morning to you too, Yukata." he said as Yukata got up, grabbing his sheet and leaving Kenji's dorm. Kenji waited until Yukata was out of earshot, opening up his drawer and looking at the picture again. That happy picture of him and Emi holding hands on the swing. He didn't know what he expected when he looked at it. Maybe he thought if he looked at long enough, he'd wake up from this nightmare. That this was all a bad dream and he'd wake up to see Emi smiling at him. That she and Rio would be alive, that Monokuma was just some figment of his imagination, that this whole Killing Game was some bad joke.

He set the picture back down and shut the drawer, leaving the dorm room and heading for the Dining Hall. As he made it to the first floor, he was suddenly hit in the stomach. "OW! What the hell?!" Kenji said as his arms wrapped around the object that had struck him, feeling something rubbery with small bumps as he ran his hands along it. He looked and saw a basketball in his hands. "What?! Why is there a basketball?!" he asked, baffled as a sudden whistling pierced his ears.

"Ah, Kenji Taisei! There you are! Meet me in my lab ASAP! You have an appointment!" Hana said, dressed in full basketball gear with a whistle hung around her neck.

"What? Hana, it's seven in the morning! I need breakfast!" Kenji said before being smacked in the face by an object wrapped in foil. "Stop throwing things at me!"

"What you need is vigorous ups! This is your prescription from Dr. Dunk! PREPARE FOR YOUR WRITE UP! Eat that protein bar and meet me at my lab!" Hana barked out, knocking the basketball out of his hands and taking it as she dribbled away. Kenji grabbed the protein bar off the floor, thinking about whether to join Hana when her whistle blared out. "ON THE DOUBLE, KENJI! WE'RE WASTING DAYLIGHT!" she shouted, Kenji quickly running after her, ripping open the package and forcing the protein bar into his mouth as he ran.

The trek to the labs felt shorter since he was having to keep up with Hana as he soon made it to her lab, trying to catch his breath. She opened the door, holding two plastic bottles full of orange liquid. "Ah, the patient finally arrives! Here, have some OJ and step into my office, Mr. Taisei!" Hana said, shoving one of the bottles into his chest, Kenji just staring at her confused.

"...Office? Does this room have an office?"

"The dunk is my office. Now, please come in, we have important matters to attend to." Hana said, moving aside so Kenji could enter.

"Hana, what is all this about?" he asked, Hana popping the top of her bottle with her teeth.

"What this is about is that your Mojo has been at critical levels for the past few days. You need to get your Mojo back up and a couple hours of exercise is a good way to start off your morning right! You and I are gonna do a few rounds! I even got us an announcer!" Hana said, pointing to Bam at the announce table.

"And it is a sunny day here at Enoshima University as we get ready for a 15 minute pick-up game between the Ultimate Basketball Star, Hana Okamoto, and her opponent, the ever determined Kenji Taisei, the Ultimate Volunteer!" Bam shouted into the microphone, which picked up over the PA system despite Kenji clearly seeing where he was standing, roughly 20 feet away.

"...Does Bam really need to be here?" Kenji asked.

"Of course! It's motivating! What's a sport without a dope-ass commentator talking about everything you do, and making it dramatic?" Hana said as she headed to the end of the half-court, chugging her orange juice and tossing the empty bottle off the to the side. Kenji shrugged and ran to meet her.

"Ready?" Hana asked, gently dribbling the ball as Kenji got into a wide stance. He... didn't really play basketball back in high school, but watching a few games he somewhat knows what to do. He would screen Hana, try and stop her from getting past him, then steal the ball on an attempted 3 pointer and score himsel-

Hana immediately shot the ball through his legs while he was still thinking about what he should do, breezing past him and slam dunking the ball into the hoop with her diminutive frame. "SLAMTOWN! POPULATION? HANA!" Bam announced, the ball bouncing off the ground as she did a couple of pull ups on the hoop.

"I AM LITERALLY ON FIRE! COME 'N PUT THIS OUT KENJI! COME 'N PUT THIS OUT!" She gloated, dropping off the hoop and pointing at him.

"...I've got a bad feeling about this." Kenji mused to himself. For the next fifteen minutes, Kenji found himself trounced by Hana every time the buzzer sounded. He would call this a massacre, but that would require resistance at any point as she landed three-points, perfect slam dunks, jump shots, hook shots, even alley ooping herself by throwing it up and dunking it with no assistance.

"WHITE CHOCOLATE!" Hana shouted as she finished off the game, the score stopping at 52-2, Kenji having managed a lucky free throw. "And game! Feeling better, Kenji?" she asked.

"..I don't know. I should be sad about how badly I scored, but that was… kind of fun." Kenji said, Hana flashing a massive grin at him.

"Hell yeh! That's the Mojo coming back! You take that Mojo and start running with it, Kenji! You'll be back at it in no time!" she said excitedly, pumping her fist in the air.

"An impressive 50-point lead seals the deal as Hana Okamoto secures her status as the Ultimate Basketball Star!" Bam called from the table.

"Thanks for coming in, Bam! I'm gonna go get some breakfast!" Hana said, running off with ball in hand. Bam started to shut off and unplug the equipment, Kenji walking over to the table.

"You know, we don't really talk much, huh Bam?" he said.

"No, our paths rarely cross in this University! I'm usually talking with Hana and Setsuki. Yukata dislikes having me commentate his card games!" Bam semi-shouted, Kenji now remembering why he didn't talk with Bam often.

"...Does doing that hurt?" Kenji asked.

"Hurt? No! Not at alllllittle bit, yeah… part of it is my natural voice being that deep, but I have to add a bit of volume to really project." Bam explained, lowering his voice a bit.

"I mean, you don't really have to do that when you're not announcing." Kenji said.

"Nonsense! I told you when we met that my volume and rhythm need to stay at a perfect level or my never hold it again!" Bam said, affronted and glaring at Kenji through his sunglasses.

"You… you just dropped your volume and you got it back just fine." Kenji said, Bam pushing up his sunglasses. "So… uh… you know Hana?" Kenji asked, hoping to change the subject.

"Yeah. We went to the same high school. I commentated a lot of her home games and she would sometimes help out with calibrating the equipment. Guess you could say we're inseparable." Bam said, his voice dropping back down to listenable levels. Kenji rubbed his chin, wondering what else to talk to Bam about.

""I was wondering what being an Ultimate Sports Commentator entailed. It's not just being loud, is it?" Kenji asked.

"Of course not! It's also about being knowledgeable about everything you commentate! As a sports announcer, you are the guiding voice to the viewer or listener to the game and need to make sure they are able to jump in mid-game and still feel like they watched from the beginning! Along with that is being compelling! It's one thing to rattle off the scores, facts and jargon but to keep a viewer interested, to keep a listening from changing the radio station. That requires you to create a compelling environment. I make it a habit to study about the people I wish to talk about, because their hard work needs to be announced. And I make sure that my language is creative enough to make it more than a simple sport, but a battle between warriors!" Bam finished his explanation with a sense of pride in his voice.

"Wow… so, why an announcer?" Kenji asked.

"...Well, it's so I don't blend in." Bam admitted, looking away from Kenji.

"Blend in?" Kenji asked, head tilting.

"I don't really have the most impressive Ultimate Talent and without it, I don't stand out in a crowd. I have to make the most of what I do have to make it so people won't forget me. It's why I dress the way I do, it's why I'm so loud and it's why I became an announcer. I had the voice for it, so I took to the table and wanted to make sure that I was the best damn commentator I could be." Bam explained, keeping his sunglasses close to keep his eyes covered.

"So… you're worried about being forgotten?" Kenji asked, Bam nodding, eyes hidden behind his shades. "Well, it worked... But isn't how people remember you better than being remembered?" he mused, Bam looking up at him.

"...How I'm remembered?" Bam asked, sunglasses dropping briefly.

"Yeah, it's all well and good to be remembered, but if people remember you as a loudmouth who never shut up, no offense," Kenji began, noticing the evil eye Bam was giving him. "Then people won't want to remember you. Maybe focus more on leaving a good impression on one or two people than annoying everyone." he said, Bam pushing up his shades and contemplating.

"Hrm… that sounds reasonable, but who do I leave a good impression on?" Bam wondered.

"I mean, you and Hana are good friends, right? You guys hang all the time. She likes having you commentate her games." Kenji said.

"Hm… yes! Of course! Thank you, Kenji! You may be mediocre at basketball, but you truly are the Ultimate Volunteer! A true helping hand for those in need!" Bam exclaimed, nearly poking Kenji's eye out with his finger.

"Uh… thanks, I think." Kenji said, scratching the back of his head.. "Maybe we should get going. I haven't had anything to eat besides that protein bar." he said, heading out of the lab. As he headed for the stairs, he saw someone heading up, moving aside to let them pass.

"Hey! I was wondering where the fuck you were, Kenji!" Reiko barked out.

"Ah! W-wait! I didn't do anything, I swear!" Kenji said, frozen on the stairs as Reiko climbed up and grabbed him the collar, dragging him back up the stairs.

"Shut the fuck up! You're coming with me! Hi Bam." Reiko said, waving to Bam as he headed down the stairs. Kenji struggled as Reiko dragged him to her lab.

"I haven't had breakfast yet!" Kenji moaned as Reiko stopped and tossed him, Kenji hitting his side and sliding on the floor. He hit a wall, knocking a bucket off the shelf and sending it falling onto his head. He heard the clatter of a fridge door opening, Reiko's rummaging through the fridge and the slam of the door. Then came a series of beeps and the hum of a microwave. He struggled to pull the bucket off getting it off his head and seeing Reiko open up the microwave.

"Eat up, Kenji. You're gonna need the energy." Reiko said, shoving a cheap frozen chicken sandwich into his hands before taking a bite of her own. She threw a can of Panta at him, landing it in the bucket. Kenji took a bite of the sandwich, suddenly being hit with a mild heat from the chicken. It was a spicy chicken. Kenji, huffing out air, grabbed the Panta and cracked it open, drinking down.

"God, you are such a fuckin' wuss…" Reiko grumbled, taking another bite.

"I wasn't expecting spicy! I also wasn't expecting to be kidnapped today!" Kenji objected, eating more carefully with the second bite.

"I don't fuck around with asking. When I want someone's help, I get it. And I can't just tell you to help me fix a bike or you'd start bitchin' to your cop friend." Reiko said, finishing off her sandwich and chugging her Panta. "Oh, fuck yeah! That's the good stuff!" she exclaimed, crushing the can against her temple.

"So, you need my help fixing a bike? Don't you do this regularly?" Kenji asked, careful not to say anything that Reiko would take as an insult.

"Yeah, well I've been out of fuckin' practice and now I need help and since you're the Ultimate Volunteer, you're probably the best chance I got of getting this girl running! Whaddya want, for me to ask Shiro to help? Pussy'd probably whimper about getting grease on his poor silk gloves." Reiko said, grabbing tools around the lab. "Now, you gonna help me out or are we gonna have some problems?" she asked, Kenji figuring that he did not want to pick wrong here.

"Okay, I'll help! Just keep the bat out of things!" Kenji said, Reiko grinning at him.

"Don't worry, I got it put away. Grab a screwdriver, let's get down and dirty." she said, sounding happy for once. It sounded off to Kenji given her usual voice was gruff and confrontational. Kenji followed her to the motorcycle, taking a screwdriver in hand. The two looked over the bike, checking to see what had been broken or fallen into disuse.

"Still got a working frame, so that's good. Engine's fucked, though. Probably because it's been sitting in here for a few months. Se if you got a spare in your lab." Reiko said in a commanding tone.

"...Why would I have a spare engine in my lab?" Kenji asked.

"Because you got a whole bunch of shit in your lab! I probably tossed an engine in there and literally forgot about it!" Reiko shouted. "Now get me a fuckin' spare engine!"

Kenji bolted out of Reiko's lab, pulling out his keycard and getting to his lab. He looked around, passing by the tools and stopping at a shelf where there was an engine, labeled **Reiko's Spare Engine**. "Alright! There we go!" he said, grabbing the engine, nearly dropping it with how heavy it was. He held tight to it and carried the heavy engine back up the stairs to Reiko's lab, seeing Reiko covered in grease already, surrounded by the disassembled bike parts. She had her duster tossed aside, wearing only a white tank top.

"About fuckin' time! Set it down over there, we got some more shit to replace!" Reiko said, ponting a wrench at an empty spot on the floor.

"...What are we gonna need?" Kenji said as he set the engine down. Reiko listed off all the parts they were going to need, Kenji making a mental note and running back to his lab, putting all the parts in a box and carrying it back. They soon got to work, Reiko doing most of the work unless she needed a part, tool or for him to hold something in place. Kenji found her surprisingly calm during the whole thing, which made it easier to fix the motorcycle since she wasn't snapping at him.

"The main reason I needed to work on this is because of how long this bike must have sat here." Reiko said as she slammed back another can of Panta. "The fuel's gone tits up from sitting in the tank for so long, and it's ruined the carburetor, so the fuel won't mix with the air, or it will block the intake vent with crap. But not anymore! We fuckin' fixed it." Reiko said proudly, giving Kenji a hand back up, his face was coated in smudges of grease, even after Reiko's warning of 'don't rub your face.'

"Thanks for the help, Kenji. Haven't had help like that since back when I was still running the Killer Queens." Reiko said, tossing him another can of Panta.

"The Killer Queens?" Kenji asked, Reiko chuckling.

"My gang. One of the most feared gangs in Japan, surprised you never heard of them, but I guess a goody two-shoes punkass like you never got on our bad side. They used to be the Crimson Kings, led by this real big shot egotistical prick, Tetsuya. Like, imagine Shiro if he wore fishnets, had stupid hair and thought he could win every fight despite being built like a mannequin in a wig. That was Tetsuya." Reiko said.

"So, if Tetsuya was such a... " Kenji said, trying to find the right words to describe him.

"Punk ass bitch?" Reiko suggested with a smirk.

"...Sure, why not? If Tetsuya was such a punk, how were the Crimson Kings so feared in Japan?"

"Hah! They weren't. They were big, yeah. Huge. But Tetsuya got the leadership after throwing the leader off a bridge when he wasn't looking during a showdown. It caused a lot of infighting among the gang. He tends to let other people fight in his place, like when Tetsuya had dyed-in-the-wool members of the gang challenging him over his leadership. Tetsuya hated people challenging him and usually had his loyal hands stomp out anyone who got in his face." Reiko explained.

"Except you, it sounds like." Kenji said, Reiko chuckling and clapping him on the shoulder.

"Damn straight! I was building up the Killer Queens back in Sendai and word was that the Crimson Kings were going to start making moves in my turf. Now, I was only fourteen at the time, but Sendai was my hometown and the Killer Queens were running things, so I wasn't gonna let that happen. I grabbed my bat and went up to meet with him. Tetsuya laughed at me when I came up to him and told him to fuck off, but after I smashed his biggest enforcer in the head, he started listening. Sure, it took me kicking the shit out of ALL his enforcers, then taking him up to the roof of the warehouse hideout." Reiko said.

"Wow, you did that without getting hurt?" Kenji asked.

"Oh, hell no! I got fucked up. Hard. Being tough ain't about not getting hurt. People that don't get hurt are pussies who never fought. Tough is getting your ass handed to you, getting back up and demanding them to hand it to you a second time, just because they haven't kicked you hard enough to feel it in your soul. Anyway, I dangled Tetsuya over the roof and make him cry like the little bitch he is. He promised to stay out of Sendai and I thought it'd be the end of that. But the the rest of the Crimson Kings soon came to Sendai and I thought they were going to get revenge or start shit to get under my skin. But then it turns out they wanted to join us. So, we absorbed the whole group into ours and became the biggest and most feared gang in all of Japan. You think that counts as a checkmate?" Reiko asked.

"I dunno, you'd have to ask Yukiji, though I don't think he'll want to answer you." Kenji said with a chuckle, Reiko chuckling back.

"Yeah, fuckin' nerd would probably freak if I got near his lab… hey, Kenji?" Reiko said.

"Yeah?" Kenji asked, feeling a touch nervous.

"Thanks for helpin' me out. You're pretty cool when you're not screaming like a goddamn pansy." she said, Kenji blinking in surprise.

"Uh… thanks, Reiko." Kenji said, finishing off his Panta.

"Yeah, yeah. Now get outta here, you're buggin' me." she said with a smirk. Kenji headed off, tossing his can in the trash and heading out of the labs. He was now covered in grease and needing a bath.

"Hey! Hey hey hey heeeey!" Monokuma shouted from behind him. Kenji turned around, eyes shocked from the sudden change in volume.

"Can't you at least remember to RECYCLE? You just threw your can of Panta in the trash. I would like to inform you that I've provided you PROPER RECEPTACLES! Use 'em, they have that little triangle symbol on them with the arrows? Even a baby knows that." Monokuma exclaimed.

"It was in Reiko's lab! If you got a problem with it, take it up with her!" Kenji shot back.

"Ah, passing the buck, eh? I expected more out of you, Mr. Taisei. What kind of heathen are you!?" Monokuma shouted, paws shaking with fury.

"Why are you so upset about recycling?!" Kenji asked, exasperated.

"Hey! Unlike Akira, Enoshima University has a reputation to uphold! This is a prestigious building of higher learning! We can't have you going around leaving cans lying around!" Monokuma said. "So, remember to recycle your cans and bottles or I'm putting it in the regulations!" he warned, disappearing as he always did. Kenji kept up his walk back to the campus.

After the long walk back, Kenji made it to the Bathing Room. "Hey, Kenji! Where ya been, buddy?" Haru asked as he walked up to Kenji.

"Hey, Haru. Sorry… I've been out of it since… Y'know." he said, rubbing the back of his head through his chestnut colored hair.

"It's fine, man. But you're lookin better." Haru said.

"Thanks. Hana and I played basketball… though it was more like Hana playing basketball while I just stood there and lost. Then I helped Reiko fix a motorcycle. That went… better than I expected." Kenji said.

"Besides all the grease on your face?" Haru joked, Kenji laughing.

"Well, that's why I'm here. How about you?" Kenji asked.

"Kiko and I are coming back from a walk. It's been lovely out these past few days, so we've been taking advantage of that and getting some fresh air." Haru said.

"Oh, cool. I'll try not to use all the hot water on you." Kenji said as he opened the door, Kiko walking up to the doorway, turning around and sitting in place, eyes focused and staring straight.

"Looks like Kiko is guarding the door for us. She does that pretty much on instinct whenever I shower. I think she's looking out for a possible attacker." Haru said.

"She doesn't know about the Killing Game, does she?" Kenji asked, both worried and curious that Kiko might know more than he'd expect from a dog. Most dogs, to his knowledge understood 'food, ball, sleep and friend.' but Kiko was ready to sit at attention in case of an attacker.

"She understands that somebody was dead in the showers, but I don't think she understands how it happened." Haru said. "Hey, it's a good way to know if Monokuma's coming." he said, Kenji smiling and heading into the shower room, grabbing a towel and stripping down. Thankfully there was still plenty of hot water as he got to work washing off all the grease and sweat from today's activity.

"Ahhh! Soothing, ain't it?" Haru said.

"Yeah, I needed this… so, what was it like, breeding Kiko?" Kenji asked.

"It wasn't easy. I had trained plenty of dogs before, but breeding's an entirely different beast. I had to basically learn a new skill, though I was lucky enough to find some good books on it. If you ever want to breed your own dogs, pick up some of Gundham Tanaka's books. They're a bit hard to decipher, he rambles on about some sort of black magic stuff, but all hs tips worked." Haru explained.

"Hm, dunno if I'm gonna do breeding. I'm not great with dogs. I don't hate them, I just think I'd end up being overpowered by a small army of corgis…" Kenji said, Haru letting out a great laugh.

"You gotta watch out for corgi stampedes! They sneak up on you!" Haru said. "So, when we get out of here, what are you gonna do?" he asked, Kenji thinking it over as he doused his head in shampoo.

"Well… I guess I'll probably take my skill online. Put up a site so I can build stuff for people who need something made…" Kenji said. "I mean, I'm not super skilled at building stuff, but I can help out and I've been getting experience with nail bats and motorcycles, plus I've done labor for free, so why not use it to make a living?" he said.

"That's the spirit, Kenji! And hey, if Kiko ever needs a new doghouse then I know who to call." Haru said, Kenji smiling as he tilted his head down. Kiko started barking, drawing the two out of their shower talk. "Kiko! Down girl! Who's there?" Haru shouted, the door opening to a voice.

"Attention all showering students! Monokuma has given me orders to inform you that we will be meeting at the gym at 7 PM sharp! And be sure to wear pants!" Bam called before shutting the door.

"...Did he really need to use Bam for that? Can't he just pop in wherever?" Kenji asked.

"Must be something big at the Theater if he's sending out messengers. Plus, he's probably adhering to Akira's regulations about popping into the showers." Haru said as he stepped out. Kenji couldn't help but smile at the thought of one place Monokuma couldn't bother him. He'd have to thank Akira for that when they met up at the gym.


	14. Chapter 2: Daily life 4

Chapter 2: Together we are, and alone we will be Daily Life 4

Monokuma announcing he wished to meet everyone in the gym typically meant bad news. But Kenji just braced himself for it, getting his clothing on and making a rush to the Gym, since he wasn't sure what time it was at the moment.

Other students filed in, Kenji wasn't as late as he usually was this time despite being midshower, so his hair was still dripping with water since he didn't towel himself off yet. Kenji sat down next to Akira, looking up at the small stage of the gym. On stage, Monokuma was sitting in a director's chair, holding a paper megaphone in one paw, and adjusting his raspberry colored beret with his other paw.

"Director Monokuma wishes to speak to you all! Get in, settle down, no snacks or cellphones during my announcement!" He shouted into the megaphone, a projector being wheeled into the room by two smaller Monokumas as the late arrivals, this time Dahlia, Hana and Airi made their way into the room.

The lights shut off, leaving just a dim spotlight illuminating lighting monokuma, as he slowly revealed a screen the projector would shine its light upon. "Instead of the usual Monokuma banter… without further adieu… the trailer for my piece de resistance~!" He said, trying to work up a french accent. The reel on the projector began to roll, projecting a countdown on screen.

 _3… 2… 1…_

"Heeeeeeeeello, students!" Monokuma said, giving a tip of his beret. "If you're watching this, I'm in a movie!... Well.. A movie trailer."

A deeper voiced Monokuma began to speak over footage of the remaining students in the school, Akira in her room, Kenji trying to get a candy bar out of the machine, Hana asleep on the floor, with a basketball on her head. "In a world controlled by despair… 14 students, I think…" The last bit was spoken in his usual high pitched tone, before clearing his throat and going back to the dramatic one he had.

"Will have to encounter… one of the greatest tasks of their lives. The motive… for the killing game!" He shouted, a string quartet performing a 'dun dun dun' sound almost perfectly timed to it.

There was a picture of Monokuma Theater, at night. "It's two days until Monokuma has his awesome, spectacular, super neato n' stuff Monokuma Theater, at 4PM, he knows something the students didn't know about their oh so mysterious pasts…" He said, trying to sound ominous, but.. It just wasn't working with his voice.

"He will reveal a secret about every single one of you, some might be good, some might be bad… But in order to stop it from happening… A murder must be committed!" Lightning bolts struck behind the theater, before cutting back to Monokuma's face.

"But… You're not in this alone. If you can commit the murder, and escape, Monokuma will kindly give you a gift as you graduate from this academy of terror." Narrator Monokuma spoke, before poking the screen, and going back to his normal voice.

"You get to take someone with you! They live, and you can go together! Isn't that neat!?" He said with a tiny hop, before action music began to play and credits began to roll.

 _ **Kenji Taisei as: Idiot Hero.**_

Monokuma dubbed over each students voice in video clips, to come up with a snappy quote for each of them in a mocking voice..

"Drrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr. Emi Emi Emi." He overdubbed Kenji, offensively.

 _ **Shiro Kiruma as: Stuck-Up Douchebag**_

"Mmph. Hmm. Mnnnnnnrg. I hate you, you suck."

 _ **Bam Takahashi as: Loud Guy**_

"I exist!"

 _ **Dahlia Kurotsuki as: Weird Vampire Chick**_ _._

"Spooky Scary!"

 _ **Hana Okamoto as: NBA Jam!**_ _  
_

" _AHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"_

 _ **Reiko Ono as: Fuck Girl**_

"Fuck. Fuckity fuck. Awwwww fuck! Fuckfuckfuck."

 _ **Yukata Watanabe as: The NERD**_

"Nyrrrrrrrrrrrrr." It was just a picture of Yukata making a strange face, no actual animation.

 _ **Yukiji Chimon as: Awkward Lad!**_

"I'm socially awkward, love me."

 _ **Miho Ishii as: Fanservice!**_

"I'm naked in every scene!"

 _ **Haru Yamada and his stupid dog, as: Haru Yamada, and his stupid dog.**_

"Arf."

 _ **Akami Sakiko as: Ambiguously Girly Man!**_

"Oooh, pretty!"

 _ **Setsuki Yori as: The Stoner Chick.**_

"Dude… No wai."

 _ **Akira Kazue as: The Justicey One.**_

"I like JUSTICE. AAAAAHHHHHH!" He shouted, photoshopping her eyes to be crossed.

 _ **Airi Kudo as: The mysterious one in like, every single one of these movies. Seriously, that always happens.  
**_ _  
"I'm mysterious."_

Coming soon to a Monokuma Theater near you! Don't you DARE MISS IT!

Then the film shut off, the lights turning back on and leaving the students confused and offended. "OH, PISS OFF!" Reiko shouted, tossing her metal folding chair at the stage. Kenji was shaking in his seat, fire in his eyes.

"Ugh, disgusting…" Shiro said as he got up, walking out of the gym.

"Hey! Hey! And where do you think you're going, Mr. Kiruma?!" Monokuma shouted, having already dodged Reiko's chair.

"I have no intention of staying here while you mock me and others. The simple announcement of the additional survivor motive did not require this much time and energy wasted. If you have anything of value to say, Monokuma, say it now." Shiro said.

"Indeed, young Kiruma brings up a good point. This presentation is gaudy, denigrating and utterly pointless. You have no secrets to reveal of us and none so dark that it would drive us to murder." Dahlia said, waving Monokuma off before standing up herself.

"Oh no…? Are you really sure about Dahlia Kurotsuki, if that is your real name?" Monokuma said, letting out an amused snicker. "I know a lot of things you wouldn't want to tell, and even some things you don't remember. Are you absolutely sure you would want people knowing about that? Do you?" he asked, turning his head to the entire group, many of them glaring silently back at him.

"That's what I thought! You have two days to commit a murder if you want to keep your secret safe! Either way, I win! A~hahahahahaha!" Monokuma said. "But to give you all a push, how about I give you something special?" he announced, a sudden blip coming in on their Monopads. They all opened theirs, many looking in shock at what they saw.

"Th-this is… how did you- how did you learn of this, Monokuma?!" Shiro shouted, pointing a hard finger at the bear who simply laughed.

"Puhuhuhu~ You really think there's nothing I don't know about you? I know your secrets, your pasts, all the shames and fears you buried away and hope they would never surface! I know everything about you guys, even more than you might think~" Monokuma said, laughing heartily at their shock, anger and confusion.

"I will not stand for this! This is an outrage!" Shiro yelled, glaring furiously at Monokuma. Dahlia gritted her teeth and shut her Monopad off, body shaking with fury. Yukiji, Yukata and Hana looked distressed at what they were reading, Airi was left wide-eyed in horror before running out of the gym. Reiko's grip on her Monopad tightened, looking like she would snap it in fury. Miho and Akira looked away from theirs and to each other. Akami looked pale, his breath becoming heavy with suppressed anger. Bam looked around the room warily, covering up his Monopad.

"...That's it?" Kenji asked, cutting through the tension suddenly as everyone looked at him.

"Huh? What do you mean by that, Kenji?" Akira asked.

"I mean, the best he can come up with for me is that I'm afraid of cats?" Kenji said. "I mean, it's embarrassing, but I'm not gonna kill anyone over it." he said, shrugging.

"Look, it's not my fault that you're so boring! You couldn't be a dangerous terrorist or have a relative on death's door, could you?! No, you had to be boring Kenji and his stupid ailurophobia!" Monokuma shouted, veins popping in his forehead. "Well, guess that's one act off the Monokuma Theater! Good! That means more time for the real juicy stories! Puhuhuhu~" Monokuma said before finally vanishing.

"...Hey, that's it! Kenji, you did it!" Haru said with a big, toothy grin as he clapped Kenji on the back.

"...I did? What did I do?" Kenji asked, confused as to why admitting to being afraid of cats was such a big deal.

"You weakened Monokuma's threat by exposing yourself!" Haru said jovially.

"I did WHAT?!" Kenji said, eyes widening.

"You exposed your secret and made it harder for Monokuma to use it against us! If we all tell our secrets, we may be able to beat him and get out of here!" Haru explained.

"Huh… you think so?" Kenji said hopefully.

"Yeah, in fact, I'll tell ya my secret. I cry at every movie I watch. Every time." Haru said.

"...Even the comedies?" Kenji asked.

"Yeah. Sometimes a cute character will fall down, and then everyone goes and checks on him, and he doesn't get up right away and I just…" He said, clutching his chest and feeling a tear drop from his eye. "That gets to me, Kenji… every time!"

"Wow… that's really something, Haru." Kenji said, patting him on the arm as Setsuki walked over.

"Keeennnn, that was rad, standing up to Monokuma like that!" Setsuki said, raising a fist.

"Everyone says that, but I was just the first one to expose his secret. It's just silly to be worried about something like that." Kenji said, bumping fists with Setsuki.

"Yeah, like anyone's gonna care if I used to stutter." Setsuki said.

"You had a stutter?" Kenji said, trying not to laugh.

"Yeah, until about 8th grade. It'd happen when I got upset, but then I mellowed out." Setsuki admitted, Kenji finding it hard to imagine Setsuki ever being upset at anything or anyone. But this was a good sign, these dark secrets were just jokes. No one was going to hurt anyone over these, much less kill anyone.

"Everyone! Get your secrets out! Monokuma's plan is just a trick to psych you out! We can beat him! We can-" Kenji shouted, hand clenched in a triumphant fist when Shiro spoke up.

"Just because you have a childish secret does not mean that Monokuma has presented an empty threat, Taisei." He said calmly.

"Ah, come on, Shiro! Whatever you have to admit, it can't be that embarrassing that-" Kenji said, trying to stay positive but Shiro once again cut him off.

"Taisei, my secret cuts down the very foundation of who I am as a person. To admit to something so openly is not an option and I refuse to allow anyone to learn it." Shiro said coldly before leaving.

"Shiro's right, there's just some things that need to stay hidden, Kenji." Akami said.

"...You have freckles, Akami?" Yukiji asked, looking over Akami's shoulder at his Monopad. The Ultimate Makeup Artist's eyes began to glow with intense anger, his face turning into an indecipherable shadow.

"Yukiji… You will not sleep tonight...I will haunt you until the end of your days." Akami said in a hushed growl, Yukiji backing away slowly.

"H-how dare you?! How dare you threaten Yukiji's innocent soul!" Dahlia cried out, getting in Akami's face, snarling with rage. "I would rip your face off and feast on your blood if it wasn't foul to the last drop!"

"Back off, Dahlia! I'm not taking any lip from a girl who can't put her foundation on properly! YOU CALL THAT CONTOURING, BITCH!?" Akami shot back, Dahlia letting out a prolonged gasp.

"Foundation? CONTOURING?! My skin's eternal beauty matches the visage of a porcelain manneq-"

"YOU LOOK LIKE YOU DECIDED TO DIP YOUR FACE IN OIL PAINTS! YOU HAVE SO MUCH EYESHADOW YOU CAN LIGHT A CHARCOAL GRILL!" Akami roared, drawing his brush and pointing the wooden end at Dahlia's chest. "You stole your lips from a cow! YOUR FOUNDATION DOESN'T MATCH YOUR SKIN COLOR! I CAN SEE THE LINE THE MAKEUP ENDS ON YOUR NECK YOU IGNORANT BITCH!"

Dahlia's eyes lit up as she grabbed the brush. "Y-you… you threaten my prince, accuse me of falsifying my undying allure and now you bring a stake upon my blackened heart! You soulless dog! Y-you foul beast! Wretched fae!" Dahlia exclaimed as Miho and Akira moved to break up a possible fight. Miho held Dahlia at bay while Akira tried to calm Akami down, taking him through some breathing exercises while Setsuki walked over.

"Don't worry so much, Akami… Freckles are cute." Setsuki said with a goofy smile on her face.

"TAKE… THAT.. BACK!" Akami shouted with a hissing anger, it looked like he had claws all of a sudden, and broke free of Akira, charging at the skater girl until Kenji grabbed the rather effeminate ragebeast known formally as The Ultimate Makeup artist as he tried to make swipes at her.

"RETRIBUTION!" he shouted, Kenji pushing against him while Akira tried to calm Akami down. Yukiji watched, shivering and hiding away in his shirt.

"Wh-what did I do…?" he asked, still terrified at the sight of a snarling Akami. Dahlia walked over to him, giving a warm smile.

"You did nothing wrong, Yukiji. Sakiko simply succumbed to human folly," she said sweetly, stroking his hair. "Humans are petty creatures, driven by the fear of imperfection in their own being. But not you. Never you, my untouched angel…" she said as she twirled his pale blonde hair around her finger playfully.

"...You're touching my head." Yukiji said matter-of-factly. Dahlia giggled and pulled her hand away.

"I meant that you are untouched by the dark, violent urges of humanity. You are a brilliant light in the darkness of this decayed earth. A wondrous innocence in the shadows of humanity's cruelty. You are special to me, Yukiji Chimon, in ways that no mortal can truly understand…" Dahlia said, blushing softly as Yukiji scratched at the hair behind his ear, eyes glazed over slightly.

"...Huh?" Yukiji asked, Dahlia letting out her usual laugh.

"O~hohohoho! You will understand one day, Yukiji and then you will be ready for my embrace…" Dahlia said, lovingly stroking his cheek before walking off, lifting her dress off the ground, exposing a stocking-covered leg as she made her way out of the gym, turning a come-hither eye to Yukiji, who simply tilted his head in confusion. Dahlia, mistaking this for an enraptured gaze, giggled like a schoolgirl as she passed through the door.

"...I don't get it." Yukiji said, turning around to see the fighting had settled down somewhat. Miho had hooked her arms under Akami's, lifting him up as he kicked and flailed in an effort to escape her hold.

"I'm… hah… I'm not done with… hah… you…" Akami said with pitched breath, his kicks slowing in frequency. "With my last breath I spit at thee..." he said, before fainting girlishly into Miho's arms.

"...A little help here?" Miho asked, feeling awkward. Akira walked over and grabbed Akami's legs, the two carrying him out of the gym. Kenji sighed, shaking his head. This wasn't going the way he hoped. Everyone seemed to take their secrets so seriously. Seeing Akami snap at friends over something as silly as freckles…

"Hrm… hey, Yukata! What your secret, bro?" Kenji asked, Yukata looking at Kenji and sighing a bit.

"I… I don't want to talk about it…" Yukata said, catching Kenji off guard.

"What's up, Yukata? It really can't be that bad, right?" Kenji said as Yukata shut off his Monopad.

"Sorry, bro. It's a bit personal for me." Yukata said, walking away.

"But if we don't tell each other, Monokuma's gonna use it against us!" Kenji argued as Yukata headed for the door.

"It's not like that. It isn't going to make me do anything, man. Just… there's parts of my life I don't want to remember, okay?" Yukata said as he left.

"I'm with Yukata on this one, Kenji. We're probably better off keeping it quiet until the Monokuma Theater. If we go around passing secrets, one of us might use that against us." Hana said. "Besides, I don't think I wanna know people's dark secrets, ya know?"

"But, this is all just a joke. Like, Akira's is probably that she likes pineapple on pizza, right?" Kenji said, trying to hold a smile as Hana shook her head.

"No, there's more to this than kid stuff. Whatever Monokuma's got on them, it hit have secrets for a reason, they don't want people learning about it because they would get hurt by it." Hana said, heading off. "It's getting late. We should get going. You comin', Bam?" Hana asked, Bam nodding and walking off, eyes covered by his shades. Kenji looked around, seeing only Reiko left in the gym.

"Reiko, please tell me your secret is-" Kenji begged as he walked over to her, getting a death glare from Reiko in return. He backed away, letting her leave without another word. With that, it seemed that Monokuma had what he wanted. Almost everyone was on edge about their secrets and it seemed that they were willing to go to blows if they were revealed. Kenji left the gym, heading up the hall for his room. That night, he had the room to himself as Yukata never knocked, asking to come in. Kenji got up, grabbing a pillow and sheet. He headed to Yukata's dorm room, knocking on the door.

"Yukata? You up?" Kenji asked, Yukata opening his door. His eyelids looked heavy and the spikes of his hair had fallen limp. "Hey, you want me to spend the night?" he offered, Yukata looking at him for a bit.

"No, it's fine. You don't have to do that." Yukata said.

"You did that for me, right? Why not have me return the favor?" Kenji asked, Yukata shaking his head.

"It's fine, trust me. I'm just nursing an old wound, man. I can handle." Yukata said with a forced smile. "I'll see ya tomorrow, Kenji."

"Right, see ya." Kenji said as Yukata shut the door. Kenji headed back to his room, throwing his pillow back onto the bed and dropping down onto it, leaving the sheet on the floor as he tried to sleep.


	15. Chapter 2: Daily Life 5

Chapter 2: Together We Are, And Alone We Will Be. Daily Life 5

"Man, he's heavier than I thought…" Akira said as they lifted Akami up the stairs, moving slowly to not drop him.

"Nah, he's just harder to carry because we're trying not hurt him, ya know? It's not like carrying a box full of important stuff. You're trying harder not to sling it around and break everything." she said. "Plus, he keeps moving. At least we're almost to his dorm." Miho said as they made it up the stairs and headed for the dorm rooms, stopping at Akami's room. Akira checked his pockets, finding his Monopad and quickly unlocking his door with his Monopass. The hardest part was over as they got him off the floor and onto his bed.

"Phew! There, looks like he's gonna be out for the night." Akira said as they left the dorm. "I wasn't expecting that kind of anger out of Akami. He can get a bit snappish when he's annoyed, but it's usually more… reserved." she said.

"Some people take their secrets more seriously than others. You wouldn't want your secret just said out loud like that would ya?" Miho asked.

"Well.. no, I guess not. But Yukiji didn't mean any harm by it. I guess looks matter when someone's ultimate ability is makeup."

"That and it's a matter of trust. Akami didn't trust anyone with his secret, so even though he and Yukiji are cool with each other, that doesn't mean Akami's cool with Yukiji knowing. That's the importance of a secret. Trust." Miho explained. "Kenji trusted all of us with his fear of cats, but that doesn't mean we could trust him with our secrets."

"Yeah... Kenji's a good friend, but… but I don't think he could handle learning my secret." Akira said, feeling a tinge of shame. Miho put a hand on her chin in thought.

"Hm… Akira, do you trust me?" Miho asked, Akira's eyes shooting up.

"Eh?! Wh-what? I… well, I do… but… you won't like hearing more about me!" Akira said, Miho nodding.

"I see… hm… maybe we could trade secrets. Just us two. Deal?" Miho asked, Akira thinking about it.

"Um… okay… but you've gotta tell your secret first!" Akira said, pointing at Miho. Miho laughed and nodded.

"Sure, just promise you won't put me in your cell when you hear it. So, your dorm or mine?" Miho said, playfully winking at Akira.

"Wh-what?!" Akira said, blushing a bit.

"Well, we can't just trade secrets in the hall, our dorms are soundproofed so we can talk all we want and no one will bother us." Miho said, giggling and grabbing Akira's hand. "Now come on, ya dork." she said as she dragged Akira off.

"Ack! W-wait! Miho!" Akira said, trying to get her hand free as Miho brought them to her room, unlocking the door. Once inside, she let go of Akira as she was pulling away. Akira fell and hit the bed hard. "Whoa! Did you have to throw me?" Akira griped.

"You let go." Miho replied as she shut the door, Akira sitting herself up on the bed. "Now, where do I start? Hm… you ever heard of the Kuzuryuu clan?" she asked. The name sounded familiar to Akira, who grabbed the brim of her hat in thought

"Is it… the Yakuza group? I think the chief mentioned them around the office a few times" Akira guessed, Mho smiling.

"That's the one. The clan's been around since the 60's, usually the son of the current leader will be the new leader unless they're weak. And they've been influencing the country in a lot of places. They've gotten their people into seats on the Japanese Diet, put spies in the police force and… they helped fund STARSTRUCK." Miho said.

"STARSTRUCK? The wrestling company you work for?" Akira asked.

"Yeah, it's my dad's company. I guess you could say wrestling's been in my blood. But after I first became Queen of the Stars, he took me backstage to shake hands with the leader of the Kuzuryuu clan." Miho said, Akira letting out a gasp.

"He didn't… do anything, did he?" Akira asked, fearing the worst possible answer.

"Oh no, he was an absolute gentleman. Actually, he was more like a hopeless fanboy, breathlessly recapping the entire match and talking about how cool it was. He was such a dork… but it was hard to take learning that all my hard work was lining the pockets of criminals. I almost quit wrestling, but dad talked me out of it. He said he was just going to pay back the debt he owed, and the fact I'd inspire fans around the world would protect me and him from harm, since we'd be in the spotlight." Miho said.

"Did you ever pay off the debt?" Akira asked.

"Yeah… but dad made friends with people in the clan, so even if they're not sponsoring us, I still see members with front row seats. It's like I can't get rid of them." Miho said, frowning.

"You can't just quit STARSTRUCK?" Akira suggested, Miho looking at her with shocked disgust.

"Quit STARSTRUCK? When I'm their biggest draw? Leaving would hurt my father, and the fans would ask questions like 'why did his daughter quit on him?' I can't do that. Plus, everyone in that locker room have been my closest friends. They're my family, Akira! You don't just walk out on family like that!" Miho said, hands balled into fists. Akira backed away slightly.

"W-whoa! Calm down, Miho. It was just an idea! I-I didn't think-" Akira said holding up her hands, Miho sighing and shooting a friendly smile.

"Damn it, Akira. You're too cute when you're flustered, I can't stay mad at you…" she said warmly. "So, now you know my secret. How about yours?"

"Huh? Oh, yeah… well, I wasn't always this.. What's the word for it?" Akira said.

"Cute?" Miho teased, Akira's face heating up.

"What?! N-no! Not cute! Damn it! Why do you keep calling me that?!" Akira shouted, trying to look tough through her red face.

"Just calling it as I see, Akira." Miho said, laughing. "Anyway, so you weren't always, lemme guess… weren't always the good cop?"

"Uh… yeah, I was actually a bit of a troubled kid. I wasn't like, Reiko bad, but I used to carry a butterfly knife around start fights with people." Akira started, remembering how she used to dress in a huge jacket bigger than herself and a backwards hat. "I'd shoplift, pickpocket and tag places. My tag was AK-13, because it was my initials and my age." Akira explained.

"...Wow, you were a dork even when you were street tough." Miho said with a smirk.

"Shut up! I was a teenager, okay?! You saying you weren't lame when you were a teenager?" Akira shot back, Miho laughing and leaning against the wall.

"Oh no, I'm sure there's some videos of me wrestling with my friends in my backyard on the trampoline that I want to be destroyed. Heh, if it weren't for the whole Yakuza connection, I bet that's what Monokuma would be using against me." Miho said. "Anyway, so the Ultimate Police Cadet was a delinquent. What changed things around for you?"

"Well, it all started when I tried to steal a car. It was this classic sports car, the paint job was a deep purple. I saw it and thought 'Oh, hell yeah! I'm gonna be a highway star in this baby!' and so I picked the lock with my knife, hotwired it, got it running, put it in drive… and I lost control instantly. It was in the high school parking lot, so when I lost control, the car slammed through the wall and into a classroom…" Akira said, looking away from Miho.

"Oh… did anyone get hurt?" Miho asked.

"Well, myself for starters. And a few students near the window. Thankfully, no one died but as soon as I was out of the hospital, I was hauled off to Juvie for two years. That's where I really started to see how I was wasting my life. I was alive, I survived that crash, right? So, there had to be more for me than mugging folks and stealing cars. I had to take this chance and run with it so once I was out, I signed up to join the force." Akira said, letting off a small happy smile.

"...Is that why you're so uptight about procedure and reputation?" Miho said.

"I always get worried I'll like.. revert back to being a delinquent. I know it means I can be a bit of a buzzkill. To be honest, and don't you dare tell Yukiji this or it'll give him ideas, but I really liked going down that trash chute." Akira said sheepishly. Miho put a hand on Akira's shoulder.

"You aren't gonna go back to being a delinquent if you have a bit of fun once or twice. You're a good cop, Akira. You just gotta remember to cut loose once in a while." Miho said, pulling Akira into a hug.

"Ack! M-Miho!" Akira exclaimed, trying to escape the sudden hug.

"Nope. You're getting the huggage. It's happening, Akira." Miho said, holding Akira tight. Akira stopped squirming after a while and began to return the hug.

"Hey, Miho? Thanks for listening." Akira said.

"No problem. You're not gonna arrest me and interrogate me for having Yakuza ties, are you?" Miho said, letting go.

"Miho, if I wanted to do that, I would've taken you to my room." Akira said with a playful wink, getting off the bed to leave.

"And where do you think you're going?" Miho asked.

"...My dorm? It's getting late, ya know." Akira said.

"Yeah, but my offer from a couple of days ago still stands." Miho replied, leaving space on the bed for Akira.

"Your offer from… oh! But wait, wasn't that just because the doors were unlocked?" Akira asked.

"Well, yeah… but if you ever feel scared, the door's always open." Miho said, beaming. Akira smiled back.

"Sure thing. Seeya tomorrow." Akira said, waving goodbye to Miho before heading to her dorm.


	16. Chapter 2: Daily Life 6

Chapter 2: Together we are, and alone we will be Daily life 6

 _Ding Dong, Bing Bong._

"Goooooooood morning, students! It is 7 AM, and a start to another beautiful day! Remember, only one day until Monokuma Theater! Be there, or be square!" He announced, waking Kenji from his slumber.

He sighed, getting out of bed, and setting the covers before heading out of the room and downstairs to get some breakfast. The fact that Monokuma wanted someone to die before his little theater floated in his head and made him nervous, but when he got to the cafeteria, he felt a sense of ease come over him as he approached his three friends he typically spends his time with.

It seemed like that mornings breakfast was a simple plate of pancakes, coated in maple syrup and a side of bacon. Kenji got his serving and a glass of milk before sitting across from Yukata, who currently had a mouth full of pancake. "Sup, Kenji." He said, Kenji greeting him with a cautious smile on his face looking at him.

"Not much, just been thinking since last night, I feel like it might be a good idea to check out the theater and get the layout of it, in case someone is planning on using it for a murder." Kenji said, cutting into his pancake with a plastic fork while Yukata got a concerned on his face.

"Do we really have to go into the subject of a murder already? I'd rather just… trust any of us not to do it." Yukata complained, still a bit flustered by the whole situation.

"I want to believe in my friends, I do… But I just want to make sure I know everything about that theater, just in case." Kenji said, casually drinking some of his milk. "If anyone wants to come with me, that's fine, but regardless I'll head out at about 10 A.M." He spoke matter of factly, Haru feeding Kiko a treat as Kenji laid out his plan.

"Just try n' be safe, dude. We don't know if one of us is secretly losing it over a dumb secret. I don't want to see you pinned to a tree just because you went out by yourself." Haru said, Kiko rolling over so he can gently scratch her tummy.

"I'll go with you." Yukata said, pointing a fingerless gloved thumb at himself and giving him a trademark smirk. Kenji smiled back, glad to have some backup.

"Thanks, Yukata. How about you, Hana?" Kenji asked.

"Can't. Gonna be playing a few games with Setsuki later, she's trying to help me get back into training."" Hana said, Kenji doubting that she needed it all that much after stomping him so thoroughly the day before.

"Well, Kiko can probably sniff out anything dangerous." Haru offered.

"Alright. We'll meet up at 10. Have fun with practice, Hana." Kenji said, Hana giving a thumbs up.

A few hours passed, Kenji checking the map of the campus to see that the Theater was still blurred out for him. The fact his map wasn't complete yet bothered him. He made his way down the road to the Monokuma Theater. To say it was gaudy would be an understatement.

It was a red matinee style theater, styled with black, white and red, with Monokuma's big wooden cutout holding the now playing board in his paws. It was quite a bit bigger than he expected, he guessed it could hold at least a few hundred people just from looking at the outside of it.

"Figures." Kenji said, hands tucked into his pockets as Yukata approached him from a distance.

"Sorry for being late, was just putting on new sleeves for my cards. They'll dogear if I don't do that." Yukata said, stopping and looking at the theater as he caught his breath. "You ever think that Monokuma has a bit of an ego problem?" Yukata asked jokingly.

"If he does, he's pretty subtle about it." Kenji said, the two laughing as they headed in. The entrance had a small lobby, with a prop Monokuma selling tickets to a conveyor belt of Monokumas buying the tickets, grabbing buckets of popcorn and going through a tiny pair of double doors out of the scene. Kenji looked around, the floor was coated in tacky velvet, and the whole place smelled like stale popcorn.

"Iiiit's a bit of a fixer-upper. Haven't had a lot of shows put on what with setting up the Killing Game, overseeing the trials, execution prep. Didja know I have all your executions set up based on your gimmicks? I have to switch them on the fly for who's actually guilty." Monokuma said as he appeared before them. Kenji's nerves tightened at the sound of that boorish, high pitched voice. Hearing that he had sixteen brutal, painful ends prepared for all of them… it made his stomach churn.

"But don't go asking what your executions are! That would be a waste, the whole point is shock and surprise and terror! I mean, what's the fun of going through a mystery if someone just tells you who the killer is and how they killed their victim? Ah, listen to me! I'm just rambling to you when I should be giving you a proper greeting! Welcome to… MONOKUMA THEATER!" Monokuma said proudly, arms outstretched.

Yukata pulled at Kenji's sleeve a bit. "Ignore him, he's just trying to distract us." he said, Kenji nodding and following him as they looked around the entrance hall of the theater.

"Oh? And what are you two doing here?" Monokuma asked, following them curiously. "The show's not for another one day!"

"Well, you were so proud of this place, we figured we'd check it out." Kenji said.

"Hm? Ahhh, I see. You two are planning a murder, then! Gonna see about taking your bro out of this school for graduation, Kenji?" He asked, pointing an accusing finger.

"We're not trying to kill anybody. We're… death-proofing the building by inspecting the layout." Kenji said, smacking Monokuma's hand awa. "We wanna make sure you haven't set up any more traps. Besides, I'm not a killer." he said firmly, Monokuma letting out a soft chuckle.

"Puhuhuhuhuhu~ We'll see how long that holds out, Taisei." he said before vanishing. Kenji unclenched his fists and took a deep breath to calm himself down.

"Just take it easy, Kenji. He's trying to get in your head." Yukata said, patting Kenji on the back. He nodded softly, walking to the theater room entrance and revealing it in its entirety. It looked like a small opera house. Rows of seats surrounding a inset stage, the whole inner building resembled a clam shell, to amplify the sounds coming from the stage, just in front of the front row seats was a orchestra pit, leading to the large raised stage covered with two red curtains.

The lighting was dark, Kenji grabbed the rail on the stairway to the center stage just to make sure he didn't trip on any Monokumas that Monokuma left around, he didn't want to die from tripping on the stairs, anything but that.

Yukata whistled. "Wow, this place is big. Do you think they had any huge stage plays happen here? Oh! Maybe they dueled each other in front of the crowd!" He said with a smile, but Kenji shook his head.

"I don't think people play card games on a stage, Yukata." he said, Yukata frowning in annoyance.

"You don't know that! I've dueled on stage before!" Yukata said, Kenji chuckling before approaching the stage, climbing one of the flanked staircases onto the stage. He looked at the curtains, seeing they were old and thinning in some places, coated in a plush layer of linen that felt smooth to the touch. Behind the curtains, each side was attached to a sandbag, which allowed them to open much faster than pushing them.

He lifted up the red curtain, seeing very little in the dark. He squinted his eyes, spotting a thick black shape near the ceiling, looking like an obsidian log in the darkness. "Huh? What is that?" Kenji thought aloud. "Hey, Yukata! Take a look at this!" he called, Yukata coming from the pit and climbing up the stage.

"What's up? You find something?" Yukata asked.

"Yeah, some sort of big tube up there. What's that for?" Kenji said, pointing to it.

"Huh… no idea." Yukata said, shrugging. "Everything around here looks to be safe. There's nothing in here that's dange- OHHOLYSHIT!" He screamed, his voice leaping up about two octaves in sheer fear. He fell on his butt, turning pale and scrambling away from the curtain as he began to sweat beads, pointing a finger up to the curtain as Kenji looked at him in concern.

"Kenji! K-kenjiiii!" Yukata shrieked out, shaking and hyperventilating.

"What is it, Yukata? Did you see something?" Kenji asked, worrying that Monokuma had someone stalking the theater, ready to attack at his command.

"I-I saw a shadow at the end of the catwalk! T-there's something up there!" Yukata shouted, pointing further. As Kenji looked up, a light metallic clicking rung out through the stage.

 _Tink! Tink! Tink!_

"There it is! It's moving! This theater is haaaauuunted!" Yukata screamed, drawing back further.

 _Tink! Tink! Tink!_

"Oh grandpa, forgive me! I should have just helped you run your cafe! Please don't enact your vengeance upon me!" Yukata cried, hands clasped in frantic prayer. Kenji looked for something to defend himself if the shadow moving along the catwalk had come after them. The shadow came to a stop, turning toward them. Two bright red dots pierced through the darkness… eyes staring down at them.

"It's looking at us! It wants to take our souls! Don't look it directly, Kenji!" Yukata shouted, covering his eyes. Kenji kept looking at the shadow, breath steady as a nervous sweat began to form along his forehead. The shadow drew closer to them, an arm taking form with a clawed hand grasping the rail. The shadow lifted itself onto the rail, perching itself there. The clawed hand lifted closer to its face, at least what Kenji hoped was its face. And then came the all-too familiar sound of laughter, echoing through the stage. A high, false laugh.

" **Ooooooooooohohohohoho~!** " Dahlia laughed and laughed, it sounded like the loudest Kenji ever heard her laugh, or maybe it just started to get on his nerves. Yukata simply let out a shriveled whimper in the highest pitch of his voice.

"Dahlia… what are you doing up there?" Kenji asked.

"Ohhh, young Taisei! Have you never read the history of my kind? A theater draws vampires like a moth to a flame~ The rustic, dark atmosphere… the drama, the feeling of watching over a mass of lemmings knowing your superiority~ It's my haven, my sanctuary, my solace!" Dahlia said dreamily, chin resting in the palms of her hands. Kenji sighed and shook his head, turning to Yukata.

"You can relax, Yukata. It's just Dahlia and her… whatever she does." Kenji said, turning to see Yukata's face drained of complexion, eyes rolled back as a shade of blue began to from on his skin.

"No… not you! Anyone but you!" Yukata said, pointing at Dahlia with a shaking hand.

"Young Watanabe, I'm hurt. I thought you were a chivalrous gentleman after sheltering me from the harsh rays of sunlight. You saved my life that day and I do owe you a debt of gratitude! But you reject my every offer to turn you into one of my thralls!" Dahlia said in a sorrowful whine.

"You keep trying to bite me! And my name is Yukata!" he shouted back, Dahlia crossing her shoulders and turning her nose up at him.

"You are Watanabe to me because your life is so miniscule. What is another fifty or sixty years to one who has lived for centuries? Only Yukiji will live beyond you!" Dahlia said, turning herself around on the catwalk, back facing the students below her. "Young Taisei, what brings you to this wonderful place? Come to appreciate the beauty of the arts? Or… oh, yes…" Dahlia said, curling her fingers to her chin and lips.

"Plotting a murrrrrrrrrr~derrrrrrrrr~?" She said, with strange emphasis, and a fake accent on the word murder.

"What?! No! Why does everyone keep thinking I'm gonna kill someone?!" Kenji said, pulling at his hair. Dahlia flipped herself upside-down, legs hooked on the catwalks handrail, using her high heels for leverage.

"Then perhaps you have heard the whispers of the night calling to you. The siren's song of blood that drew you to seek comfort in my bosom. It is my harshest curse to have such ethereal beauty. Poor mortal men like you fall for me every year. Young virgin boys, world-weary older men, the brokenhearted, the romantics, the submissives and dominants. And they all fall to an early grave… it's an endless tragedy." Dahlia said morosely, gesturing even while hanging from the catwalk.

"Kenji… How is she a people?" Yukata asked, still baffled at what he was seeing.

"...Person, Yukata." Kenji corrected. "Dahlia… we're here to inspect the theater. We wanna make sure no one uses it for murder." he explained to Dahlia, Yukata curling up into a fetal position.

"Ahh, yes… you were discussing the fire curtain. It serves a useful purpose to both our kinds. It prevents the spread of fire to the main stage, since it's entirely made of antique cherry, mixed in with occasional strips of maple wood~ The whole opera house would burn down without it!" Dahlia cried.

"...It's a theater." Yukata said from the ground.

"I desire it to be an opera house! I want my opera house~ I want there to be an opera!" Dahlia said, swinging from the catwalk with a hum, her long pure white curls of hair gently bouncing with her movements upside down.

"So, it stops fires from spreading, letting people escape easier?" Kenji asked, hoping to steer the conversation away from Dahlia's fantasies.

"Indeed! It's very heavy, and lined with metal. They probably kept it wrapped up there so it wouldn't get in the way of the main curtain. I must say, it is a wonderful contraption! Without it, I would've roasted in the flames of a freak fire during a performance of Macbeth!" she said.

"Damn it, she's informative but why can't she just be a normal lady…Like Akira or Setsuki or something" Yukata muttered, clutching his knees on the floor.

"So, you know a lot about this theater? You mind showing us around?" Kenji asked.

"Of course! But in exchange, I ask for your assistance in finding Yukiji!" Dahlia ordered.

"Yukiji? You're still stalking him?" Yukata asked, Dahlia letting out an offended gasp.

"I was not stalking Yukiji! I saw him pass through the theater and he had vanished into thin air! I fear that we may have lost that poor creature to the darkness! Taisei and Watanabe! I, Dahlia Kurotsuki, the Ultimate Vampiress, implore you to help meeeeeeeeAAAAHHHH!" Dahlia screamed as she began to fall. Kenji rushed into action, dropping to his knees and sliding to catch Dahlia. She crashed onto him, kicking up a large amount of old dust from the theater.

"A-are you guys okay!?" Yukata exclaimed, getting up and running over to them. Kenji was on the floor, Dahlia sat on top of him, shaking in panic.

"Ah! I was foolish! I spoke its name! I brought the curse upon myself!" Dahlia cried.

"...What? What name?" Yukata said.

"The Bard's Play! Those who speak its name in a theater bring disaster upon themselves!"

"Huh? You mean Mac-" Kenji said, slightly dazed. His words were cut off as Dahlia clapped a hand around his mouth.

"Shhh! Do not speak the name or you will be cursed as well!" Dahlia warned, drawing close to Kenji's face. Kenji's eyes widened as Dahlia became uncomfortably close to him. After a long period of silence, Dahlia gave him a tender kiss on the forehead. "Your reward, young Taisei…. Ah, Watanabe. Your stare tells me so much… does this hurt you? To see Taisei claim my favor that you have yearned since our exploration of the western wing? To know that for all your kindness, all your chivalry, that your closest friend has come closer to becoming my thrall than you have with a simple act?" Dahlia said as she stroked Kenji's face with her fingers.

"...What are you even -talking- about?! Was that even -words-?!" Yukata said, holding his head. "How did you even come to that conclusion?!"

"Dahlia… could you get off me?" Kenji asked, feeling her knees dig into his chest. She quickly jumped up, pushing off Kenji with her feet, hitting him in the gut as she leaped back. Dahlia landed on the floor, giving a graceful bow. Kenji groaned as he got up. "Thanks… so, we should probably take a look around, right? We've got a lot of ground to cover." he said, Dahlia giving a soft chuckle.

"Yes, we shall continue your journey through the theater. Watanabe, be a dear and fetch my heels. These stockings tear at the slightest snag and this floor is filthy." Dahlia said in a commanding tone. Yukata grumbled and headed for the catwalk. It took Yukata longer than he wanted to yank the black stilettos from their lodging in the catwalk. Not helped by Dahlia shouting at him. "No no no! Be gentle with them! If you snap the heel, I will drive it into your skull!" she called from the floor. Yukata growled and tossed the heels down to her, getting more shrieks about scuffing them. Dahlia slipped her feet back into them, glaring up at Yukata before turning to Kenji with a smile.

"Now then, where would you like to go first, my knights?" Dahlia asked.

"...Knights?" Kenji asked, tilting his head at Dahlia. "Uh… onward… to… the… room over here." he said, pointing to the left of backstage, a door lit from behind. Dahlia nodded and lead the way, stopping Yukata as they walked.

"Ah, not you, Watanabe. You wish to curry favor with me as Taisei had. To be regarded as worthy to be my thrall. So I shall offer you a chance." Dahlia said wistfully, Yukata letting out a heavy sigh.

"...Are you real?" he asked, Dahlia ignoring his question.

"I ask that you head right so that we may cover more ground in finding Yukiji. I will reward you greatly for his safe return." Dahlia said, Yukata rolling his eyes and shrugging.

"Yeah, sure. I'll catch up with you later, Kenji." Yukata said before heading for the right backstage door. Kenji followed Dahlia through the door on the left. Inside was a room with racks of costumes and a table surrounded by mirrors. On the table was a small array of brushes, lipstick tubes, powders and other cosmetics. Behind the makeups were three mannequin heads with wigs resting on them.

"I assume you know which room this is, young Taisei?" Dahlia asked, Kenji thinking of the rooms you'd find in a theater.

"Yeah, this is the dressing room, right?" Kenji said, Dahlia smiling and nodding.

"Very good. This room is where performers change into costume, put on makeup and don wigs. I have journeyed through this room for spare dressing, but alas, there was nothing befitting a lady of the evening such as myself." Dahlia lamented, Kenji looking around the room for anything that looked off. Thankfully, it looked to just be a dressing room.

"So, why go to a dressing room for clothes? Don't you have clothes in your dorm?" he asked.

"Simply wishing to expand my wardrobe. One cannot simply wear the same thing for all eternity. I do have my preferred taste, of course. But none of these garbs can match my elegance very well. A shame that we did not have an Ultimate Seamstress enroll with us…" Dahlia said as she left the room. Kenji followed suit as they headed to the left door.

Inside, Yukata was checking every box of props inside the room for hidden weapons, finding nothing. During his search, he heard a sudden rattling from one of the boxes. Yukata let out a yelp, turning his head and shooting his eyes around the room, seeing the rattling box once more. He slowly approached the box, dreading that there really was some sort of monster or psycho waiting to pounce. He lifted the lid of the box and peered inside, seeing a large foam dinosaur head rise from its contents.

Yukata let out a scream as the dinosaur head poked up, revealing inside the dinosaur's open mouth was Yukiji's bored, slightly sleepy looking face. "Wha? Who's shouting…?" He said, rubbing his dino-head as Yukata glared at him with his bugged out eyes.

"Yu-Yukiji! What are you doing in there?!" Yukata exclaimed.

"...I was sleeping." Yukiji said.

"... You were in a prop box, in the theater, asleep." Yukata said, not believing what he was saying as he said it.

"I was hiding from Dahlia in here. It was comfy, so I put on the dinosaur head and went to sleep." Yukiji explained, dino-head flopping over his face. "Is Dahlia still here?" he asked before hearing the sound of her laughter from the halls.

"Get back in the box, I'll cover for you." Yukata said, Yukiji sinking back into the box while Yukata closed the lid. The prop room door swung open, Dahlia and Kenji walking in. "Hey guys, anything in the other room?" Yukata asked.

"Just a dressing room. You alright? We heard you screaming." Kenji said.

"Oh nothing, just… saw a spider. Like a big ugly one, it looked like a velociraptor." Yukata said, struggling to come up with a good lie, Kenji picking up on it easily. Dahlia's eyes lit up and she nearly slammed her head into Yukata's as she leaned in close, looking positively giddy.

"Oh~ Do tell, Watanabe! I have been hoping to claim an arachnid familiar! Hrm.. perhaps it has nested in the forest of your hair!" Dahlia said, Yukata's eyes going wide in terror.

"Wh-what?! Where?! Get it out!" Yukata said, shaking his spiked hair, running his hands through it in hopes of getting rid of the spider he had made up. Dahlia looked through Yukata's hair for the spider while Kenji watched this unfold in disbelief, Yukata got tricked by his own lie. As he began looking around the prop room, seeing box after box of various cheap stage props. He walked over to the box Yukata had stood by, reaching for the lid and ready to lift it.

"Kenji!" suddenly came the voice of Akira as she stepped through the door frame.

"Huh? Akira? What are you-" Kenji began to ask as she got up close to him, hand near a pair of cuffs.

"Alright, where is it?" Akira asked, eyes steeled with determination. "You violated our promise, and you'll be placed into holding for questioning! Hands against the wall, Taisei! You're under arrest under the authority of the Kyoto police."

"What? I'm getting arrested!?" Kenji exclaimed as Akira put him against the wall and cuffed him.

"For questioning, people get arrested for questioning all the time. Also, shut up." Akira said, dragging Kenji by the arm.

"I want a lawyer!" Kenji shouted as he was dragged away

"If you can find one, you can use him."


	17. Chapter 2: Daily Life 7

Kenji didn't think he would be the first person locked away in the cell in Akira's lab. Sitting behind a door of bulletproof glass, with a little speaker on it so Akira can speak through the locked door. The walls were lined with stone, and an annoyingly warm lamp was shining on his head, making it sweat, he was sat on a creaky stool, with one leg slightly too short to not shift it every couple seconds.

"Where is it, Kenji?" Akira asked through the speaker, cup of coffee in her other hand as she stared him down.

"Where's what? I don't know what I did!" Kenji said, trying to keep balance on the stool.

"You took Emi's keycard! I checked my hiding spot for it, and it was missing. No one but you would want to get into her lab, I didn't even tell you where I hid it, that was our secret, Kenji. How could you?" Akira asked, hurt by his betrayal.

"What?! It's gone missing? How did it-" Kenji said, alarmed before Akira cut him off, going back to bad cop as she threw her coffee cup at the cell wall, but only after drinking the coffee in one chug.

"Don't play dumb with me, Taisei! I told you to stay out of Emi's lab! Hand over the keycard and I'll let you out!" she barked out, glaring hard at Kenji.

"Oooooh~ Got yourself a little dungeon boy, Akira? I didn't think you were….Such a degenerate~!" Monokuma said as he popped up, red in the face and sweating. Akira reached for a taser on her desk, pointing it at Monokuma.

"You dare enter a investigation? That's tampering with due process!" she said, buzzing the taser by turning it on. "I'm not allowing justice to be impeded." Akira warned.

"Well, as much as I want Kenji to be locked away for his own good, I'm here to clear his name! Save the day! Be the hero! Kenji, I'm your Hucklebeary!"Monokuma exclaimed, Kenji staring at the sight in front of him with annoyance and confusion.

"...What?" Akira said, pulling her taser back.

"You see, the real injustice isn't Kenji 'stealing' Emi's keycard! No, the real thief here is you, Akira Kazue!" Monokuma said, claws outstretched as he pointed a finger at her.

"Wh-what?! No! I'm the Ultimate Police Cadet! Everything I do is in the pursuit of justice! I didn't steal any-" Akira said before Monokuma turned around, seeming to reach for something before turning around a flashing a keycard in front of Akira. Emi's keycard. "Hey! So it was you! What are you doing with-" she objected before Monokuma spoke up.

"Like I said, you're the thief! You hid this card in your bathroom! In the toilet backbowl, no less! There are rules against bringing keycards out of the labs!" Monokuma roared, bringing the room to silence.

"Huh?" Akira said, confused.

"The keycards are supposed to stay in the labs. When you leave the lab, you're supposed to put them back on the table at the entrance in that little handbasket!" Monokuma shouted.

"Well, I knew that! But Emi's keycard doesn't belong to anyone! I don't see why-" Akira began, Monokuma growling with a vein popping in his head.

"Procedure, Kazue! If we let people just take things and put them wherever we want, then we may as well not have any rules! The keycard can stay in your lab, but it can't leave the lab building! Got it?" Monokuma said, throwing Emi's keycard onto Akira's desk.

"...Fine." Akira grumbled, turning to free Kenji from the cell, before the door to the lab got kicked open by Reiko, the look on her face indecipherable by Akira. Kenji quickly got up, holding his door shut for his own safety.

"CAN SOMEONE TELL ME JUST WHO IN THE **FUCK** TOOK MY BASEBALL BAT!?" She said, punching Akira's wall on that particular shout of her favorite curse, her voice echoing in all the halls. Akira let out a nervous squeak.

"Hmmm? What's this~? There's all sorts of thieving going on around here! Stolen keycards, stolen bats, why someone's probably going to steal my heart… if I had one! Kyahahahaha~" Monokuma said, cackling before Reiko charged up to him.

"Oh, FUCK OFF, Teddy Grahams! You better not have my bat or I'm gonna grind your little pansy ass until you look like you're pillow fluff, you little teddy BITCH!" Reiko shouted, eyes burning with rage. Akira just whimpered, twiddling her fingers together awkwardly like she was in her friend's house, and the parents were arguing.

"W-well, when you put it like that… nope! Haven't seen your bat anywhere! Sorry! Puhuhuhu~" Monokuma said with a fit of giggles before vanishing. Reiko growled, punching hard on Akira's desk, knocking her mugs and coffee machine off, only to be caught by a whimpering Akira.

"Shh.. shh… You're safe, Mr Coffee… Go to your home." She said in the weakest voice imaginable, putting the coffee machine and mugs back in their place gingerly.

"I'll turn your teeth into a coffee machine if you don't give me back my bat!" Reiko shouted, Kenji watching from the safety of his cell, mouthing his confusion at what he was seeing. Akira pushed down on the brim of her hat.

"No one threatens my coffee." She said in a hushed, determined voice.

"Oh, no. Don't worry about me, Akira. I'm fine." Kenji said, unheard from inside the cell. Akira walked up to Reiko, lifting her head to lock eyes with the Ultimate School Delinquent.

"I don't have your bat, Reiko. And if you keep up this behavior, I'll lock you up!" Akira said, Kenji holding up his hands and shaking his head frantically.

"No no no no nononononono" Kenji said, voice muffled from being in the holding cell.

"Then… Who in the shit has it!?" Reiko shouted.

"I don't know… but I'm gonna find out! Akira said, turning back to freeing Kenji. "Come on, Kenji! We've got a bat to find!" she said as she pulled Kenji out of the cell.

"W-wait! We're doing what?!" Kenji said as Akira dragged him from her lab.

"We're going to find Reiko's bat! Tensions are high and a weapon like that going missing is too dangerous to leave unattended. We'll travel in a group, and search all the labs, students consenting." Akira explained, Reiko sighing and gritting her teeth.

"Fine, but whoever did it is gonna get the bat between their ears so they can wash their brain with it." she said as she caught up with the two. They walked along the left hall, spotting Airi staring at her door in consternation.

"Hey, Airi. What's up?" Akira asked, Airi walking up and pushing her hand against the door of the lab.

"Someone's misplaced my keycard. I can't get inside this lab." she explained.

"Monokuma said they're at the front door, right?" Kenji said.

"It wasn't there. Believe me, I checked." Airi replied, running her hand along the door. She was trying to find a weak spot. A way to break down the door, with a deftness as she checked the screws and bolts on the door, before leaning down to see if she could remove the panel from the door's card scanner.

"Hey! Airi! You see my fucking bat anywhere?!" Reiko shouted.

"No. I've never seen your bat since today started, what purpose would I need your bat for?" Airi said.

"Monokuma's going around and telling all our secrets n' shit, maybe you're trying to get your murder on!" Reiko shouted, pointing a finger at Airi as she inspects her door.

"While my secret isn't something I want anyone to hear, I bear no ill intent. My focus is on getting everyone out of here, so please stop slinging baseless accusations, Ms. Ono." She said, not even turning back to her.

"I assume it would be ill advised for me to break this lock. Perhaps I could ask Monokuma for a spare, or to help me locate where it is." Airi muttered.

"You really think Monokuma's gonna help you? I mean, he'd probably just tell you to find your keycard yourself just because he'd think it's funny." Kenji said.

"Here ya go." Monokuma said, leaning over to Airi and handing her the keycard.

"W-what!?" Kenji shouted in surprise.

"She asked. Is it that hard?" Monokuma said. "But… I won't say where I got it! Where's the fun in that?" he said before vanishing. Airi quickly used the sudden distraction of Monokuma to run into her lab, Reiko reaching for the door as it locked again.

"...I don't know else I thought she was gonna do." Akira said as Reiko banged on the door.

"HEY! OPEN UP! STOP BEING A BITCH! GIMME MY FUCKING BAT!" Reiko shouted, Airi opening the door a crack.

"I don't have your bat, and it isn't in this room. I highly advise you direct your anger into actually searching for your bat." Airi said, shutting the door. No one had ever seen the Ultimate Lucky Students lab. Would it be a casino? Maybe a garden full of four leaf clovers, and the number 7?

"Let's not worry about possibilities, Reiko. We should just focus on eliminating other options." Akira said, putting a hand to her chin.

"You mind if I get back to the theater? I was kind of looking around when I got arrested." Kenji said while that last word sank in.

"Fine, fine…." Akira said, embarrassed. Kenji tucked his hands into the pockets of his sweater, marching off and leaving Akira with Reiko, in the middle of searching.

"I'm really worried someone will use that bat… I don't want any violence in that theater." Akira mused, Reiko overhearing it as she tried to get another door open by force. The door opened to show Hana.

"Oi! Quit banging on the door! You're killing the Mojo!" Hana shouted, glaring up at Reiko.

"You got my bat, ya little shit?!" Reiko shouted, Hana's eyes lighting

"I MIGHT BE LITTLE BUT I CAN TAKE YOU TO SLAM CITY, CAPITAL OF THE STATE OF SLAM!" Hana shouted, clearly set off by the L word that Reiko used. "BASEBALL IS FOR CHUMPS, IT'S B-BALL TOWN IN HANA'S HOUSE AND THAT B AINT NO BASE!" She screamed, Akira looking behind her with a look of frustration.

Airi's door opened again, just a crack. "Shh! I'm reading." She spoke sternly, then the door closed again. 

"Oh, you wanna go?!" Reiko shot back at Hana, cracking her knuckles.

"No! Nobody wants to go! We are not fighting! I am having NONE of that while I'm alive in this university!" Akira said, stepping between the two of them with newfound authority in her voice, hands pushing on both their shoulders. Hana began to take deep breaths.

"I'm calm, I'm calm… I'm cool now. But yeah, Setsuki and I have been doing ups since morning." Hana explained.

"What about Bam?" Akira asked.

"Keeping score, and giving us pointers. Setsuki's alright, but she mostly knows exhibition stuff." Hana said.

"Thanks for the info, Hana. Sorry for bothering you." Akira said, the two walking off. "Reiko, this bad cop stuff isn't gonna help us find your bat. You're just antagonizing people and giving them reasons to not trust you… Why do you need that bat?" she asked.

"Because I wanna keep guard during the big Monokuma Theater show. No one's showing it, but there's a tension in the air…" Reiko said with a look of concern, Akira gently put a hand on her shoulder.

"I couldn't think of anyone better at protecting people than you, I think." She said with a reassuring smile. Reiko shrugged off her hand with a chuckle.

"Heh, is that so? Well, I won't be able to do much without my bat." Reiko said as they explored the labs. Either no one was in their labs or they all had the same answer of not having seen Reiko's bat. Reiko kicked the entrance door in frustration.

"God damn it! At this rate, I'll have to make another one, or something, since I can't fucking find this one! That's the one I always had! This is such bullshit..." Reiko grumbled, kicking the door again.

"This is bad…" Akira said, adjusting her hat nervously. They were coming up on the Monokuma theater and Reiko's bat was nowhere to be found. A murder was being planned, for sure and there wasn't anything she could do about it. She headed out of the labs, leaving her keycard in the basket as she walked off. She remembered what Kenji said about checking the theater and decided to join in. It might get her mind off the missing bat for just a bit.

She went to the theater, entering the lobby where Yukata and Haru were waiting, looking at Kenji as he was searching a janitor's closet. "Oh, hey Akira!" Haru said with a smile, his small puffball dog gently lounging in his arms.

"Oh hey, Haru! I didn't think you would be here." Akira said, he just chuckled, scratching Kiko's head gently.

"Well… Kiko had to pee. Then a squirrel distracted her, there's no stopping her when there's a squirrel." Haru said, Kiko letting out a bark of joy. Akira laughed as Kenji shut the closet door.

"Welp, just one room left from the looks of things, a narrow staircase next to the janitor's closet, leading up to a small door with the label of 'Prompter Booth.'" Kenji said. "I don't think there will be any ghosts up there, but I wanna be sure there's no weapons. You guys ready to go?" Kenji asked, getting a nod from Yukata.

"Kiko's nose is primed and ready to go!" Haru said.

"Yip! Yip!" Kiko barked in agreement.

"Might be a tiny dog, but her smeller's top notch! She's awesome at investigating." Haru said, setting Kiko down.

"You mind if I come with, Kenji? The search for Reiko's bat has gone cold." Akira said, Kenji nodding.

"Sure thing. The more the merrier!" Kenji said as they headed up the stairs. They went inside the prompter room, Kiko getting right to work at sniffing out the room. Akira's eyes gave a visual scan of the room, which had a table and chair along the wall facing the stage. On the table were pieces of electrical equipment; a microphone, tape recorder and a panel of buttons marked with different rooms of the theater.

"Hm… looks like this is where you can control the lights… and some duct tape. Must be there in case panels start coming off." Akira mused, continuing her search of the room and finding some carpet and a second door. She opened the door, seeing the catwalk in front of her.

"Huh… so that must be how Dahlia got on the catwalk earlier." Yukata said.

"Ah yes, Dahlia was here, wasn't she? What happened to her?" Akira asked.

"She went to find Yukiji. I think he's still sleeping in that prop box…" Yukata said.

"...You left him sleeping in a prop box?" Akira said, giving an evil eye to Yukata.

"That was his decision! Don't arrest me!" Yukata said, holding his hands up. Akira sighed and shook her head.

"Just take me to him." Akira said, grabbing Yukata by the wrist and dragging him out of the prompter room. She stopped to note a small latch lock on the door as they headed for the prop room. They walked through the theater, up the stage and to the right side door. Once inside, Yukata walked over to the box Yukiji was sleeping in when he had last left.

They lifted the lid, Yukiji's dinosaur head popping up. "Is she gone?" he asked sleepily, rubbing his eyes.

"Yukiji! What are you doing in there?" Akira said, reaching to pull him out.

"Hiding. And sleeping." he said as he climbed out of the prop box.

"...Why?" Akira asked, not able to form anything else into a sentence.

"Well.. I was hiding from Dahlia, and this prop box is full of foam and it was… kind of comfy?" Yukiji said with a shrug.

"Yukiji… I… sometimes I just… Oh boy…" Akira said. She couldn't bring herself to be mad at Yukiji. He was such an innocent little boy at times like these. She just settled on taking off the dinosaur head. "Let's just get going, 'kay? It'll be dinnertime when we get back to the campus." she said, leaving the prop room. "Hey, Yukata. Thanks for keeping him... safe, I think."

"I did absolutely nothing, but you're welcome." Yukata said. Akira and Yukiji left him in the prop room, leaving the theater and walking down the path back to the campus.


	18. Chapter 2: Daily Life 8

Chapter 2: Together we are, and alone we will be Daily Life 8

There was a dread in the air on the morning of the Monokuma Theater. Many of the students had found it difficult to sleep that night and it showed for some of them. Hana was yawning before each bite of her cereal, and Setsuki had tucked her head into her arms, dozing off at the table. At Akira's table, it seemed that only Akami was rested and was trying to keep Akira, Miho and Yukiji awake by gently nudging them, though he eventually gave up on Yukiji. Even Shiro was eying everyone suspiciously through heavy eyelids, Airi glaring back at him and tightening her grip on her fork. Reiko was grouchier than usual, leaning against the wall with her hat tipped down away from the rest.

Only Dahlia looked to be in anything resembling a cheerful mood as she enjoyed some fresh strawberries, piercing each one with her fake fangs. Kenji, even with his own secret known, felt drained as he looked around the room. "Huh… someone's missing." he said, doing several headcounts. Four at Akira's table, Hana and Setsuki, Airi, Shiro, Dahlia, Reiko, Haru giving Kiko treats, Yukata shuffling one of his decks in a haze and himself. It hit him just how quiet the dining hall was, which meant that Bam wasn't there. Kenji headed to Hana's table.

"Hey, Hana? Have you seen Bam today?" Kenji asked, Hana rubbing her eyes slowly as she nodded.

"Yeah… He said he wasn't feeling well, that he was gonna hang out in his room for a while." she said.

"He doesn't normally do that… Setsuki, did you hear anything about this?" Kenji asked to confirm, Setsuki slowly lifting her head.

"Yeah.. I was there for that. It was just after Hana and I woke up, at 5 AM." Setsuki said, pulling her beanie over her eyes and falling back to sleep. Kenji was distressed at how well Monokuma's threat was holding over people. He needed to do something about this. They couldn't let Monokuma win.

Kenji jumped onto an empty table, thankfully sticking the landing as he stood up to face his classmates. "Everyone! We can't give up now! We have plenty of time to stop Monokuma! The only way to win, is to not play! We'll give him none of our attention, that'll put a wrench in his killing game!" Kenji said with a raised fist. "Who's with me?!"

There was silence, Kenji's fist slowly sinking. "You're killin' me here, guys… Really? He has your courage in a little bottle like this?" He asked, Setsuki gently tugging a pant leg to talk to him.

"I don't want to learn people's secrets, Kenji." She said with a dour expression. "Some things are better left unsaid, I think trusting each other is better than trying to learn everything about someone."

"But how can we trust each other if we're all being secretive? This is just what Monokuma wants! He wants to divide us and make us all afraid of each other! If we get our secrets out in the open-" Kenji began, Akira standing up.

"Kenji, please. This whole thing has been hard for us… I know you're just wanting to help, but maybe… maybe it's better if we didn't go! That's it! That's how we beat Monokuma!" Akira said, snapping her fingers as it clicked to her.

"Yeah… yeah! We just not go to the Theater! We've got labs anyway! We'll just skip out! What's Monokuma gonna do about that?!" Kenji said excitedly. For a brief moment, the students seemed to brighten up at the plan before their eyes widened with shock. "...Huh? Guys, what's wrong?" Kenji asked as Yukata pointed a finger.

"Kenji! Behind you!" he shouted before jumping back, Kenji turning to see Monokuma standing behind him, standing proudly with his arms across his chest.

"Clever attempt there, Akira, but I ain't having it! I spend days, tediously making sets and interesting scenes for you guys, and you AIN'T GOING?! Phooey! Nay! Poppycock! I ain't having it, police girl!" Monokuma raved when a sudden beeping hit the Monopads. Akira turned hers own to see a blinking red exclamation mark. She pressed it to see an addition to the Regulations.

 _Special Rule: If you don't appear at the theater at 4:00, you will blow up._

"W-what!?" Akira said, everyone staring at the special rule with apprehension.

"Wellll, that's a bit of a lie on my part. It's really your Monopad that will blow up, but you'll explode all the same. And don't think you'll be able to just throw your Monopad out because I will know if you no-show and I'll leave you a nice surprise in your dorms or labs! Puhuhuhuhu~" Monokuma said, his laughter echoing through the dining hall.

"Y-you can't do this! You can't force us to-" Kenji objected, hearing his Monopad beep rapidly.

"Hey hey hey! Who is the University Dean here!? I want all of you in that Theater by 4:00 or else… KA-BLAMMO!" Monokuma shouted, the beeping increasing in volume and speed.

"I have a question, Monokuma." Shiro said, standing up.

"Hmmm? And what could that be, Shiro?" Monokuma said, tilting his head and rubbing his chin.

"While attendance is mandatory, will be allowed to leave once we get there?" he asked Kenji's Monopad stopped beeping. Kenji didn't think he would ever be thankful for Shiro speaking up, but right now it would appear the Ultimate Politician saved his life.

"Ummmm let's see… ah! How about this? You can leave at any time, but only half of you will be allowed to be out of the Theater at any time! I want to see at least seven of you in that audience, got it?" Monokuma said.

"Understood. Thank you, Monokuma. That will be all. I apologize for Taisei's behavior. He makes it a habit of bucking against authority." Shiro said. "Taisei, step off the table before you embarrass yourself any further." he ordered, Kenji slowly stepping off the table, since he owed Shiro for not getting blown to pieces then and there. Monokuma let out a laugh.

"Well then, I think that settles that. Everyone has to check in and I want a half house! Until then, have fun! Don't be late! Wear your best and enjoy the show! Ahh~hahahahahah!" Monokuma said before vanishing, laughter echoing in the empty hall. Everyone made their way out, Kenji taking a deep breath before walking over to Shiro.

"Hey, Shiro… thanks for the save. I owe you one." Kenji said, Shiro pushing up his glasses.

"Good, then when you learn of my secret, I want you to forget it immediately. I will not let my reputation be tarnished by that damned bear and I will not allow you to threaten me with knowledge you shouldn't have." Shiro said coldly, Kenji nodding.

"No argument from me. So, you're sitting out? I thought you'd want to know more about us for blackmail." Kenji said with a grin.

"Blackmail is a crime, Taisei. I would never consider committing a crime. And while leverage would give me an advantage, it would also make me a target for the next murder." Shiro explained. "I'm assuming you will also be missing the show to continue your defiance of Monokuma then."

"Well, no." Kenji said, Shiro stopping in his steps briefly.

"No? Were you not the same Kenji Taisei who stood on a table in a pitiful attempt to rally the troops? I figured you would be the one who would want to watch this the least." Shiro said, eyes poring over Kenji, as if he were a jeweler appraising a finely-cut diamond.

"Well, yeah, but if other people start to leave, they'll violate Monokuma's rule about half of us staying. I'll stay there, incase some people want to leave without their detonators going off. Besides, if anyone stays they'll probably need someone with them for moral support. Might as well be me, right?" Kenji said with a smile.

"I see… yes, having a constant in the theater would be useful. Well, we shall meet again at 4 P.M. sharp. I will be in my lab if you need me." Shiro said, heading for the campus doors.

"Don't worry, I won't." Kenj said with a friendly smile, Shiro shooting back an annoyed glare. As Shiro walked off, Kenji thought he briefly saw a slight twitch of the corner of his mouth. He ignored it, he was probably just seeing things because of how tired he was. He turned to the MonoMono Machine, putting in three Monocoins and getting a bottle of apple juice.

"Hey, Kenji. You wanna help me find Reiko's bat?" Akira asked as she walked over to him in the hall.

"Sure." he said as they walked around the the first floor. "You gonna be at the Theater?" Kenji asked.

"No. I'm sticking with sitting out. Miho and I are gonna be leaving once we get through the doors… hey, Kenji. Would you mind staying by Yukiji tonight?" Akira asked.

"He's staying? You think he wouldn't want to see this." Kenji said, Akira nodding glumly.

"He doesn't, he's just afraid of blowing up. I kept telling him there'd be enough people still there that he wouldn't be hurt, but he wasn't convinced. I wasn't either, really…" Akira said, looking down at the floor.

"Ah… yeah, I'll sit next to him if it makes him feel safer. How about Akami? Is he gonna be there?" Kenji asked.

"Yeah. He said he'll stay there you Yukiji, I just figured he could use more people to help him feel better." Akira replied.

"Right. Hopefully Bam knows to show up." Kenji said as they checked the dorm.

"Hana will probably tell him." Akira said. Hours passed as they checked several floors, still not finding the bat.

 _Ding Dong. Dong Ding._

"Attention students! This is Dean Monokuma here to remind you that it 3:50 P.M.! Be sure to report to the Monokuma Theater in 10 minutes! Or elllllse~" came a message from Monokuma, a small chirp coming from Kenji and Akira's Monopads.

"I guess it's that time, huh." Akira said, getting done digging through some drawers in Kenji's lab. She looked at her Monopad, checking her messages with a animated laughing monokuma, with the timer counting down from 10 minutes in big red block letters.

"Yep. Better get going…" Kenji said, bracing himself. He gave up his search, leading the way out of the school to the front of the theater, where all the remaining students approached, some heading inside, others waiting for everyone else to get there.

"I guess they were waiting too." Akira said, putting a hand on her hip as they slowly filed into the room. Once Akira and Kenji entered the room, the laughing Monokuma changed to a green, smiling Monokuma with the numbers 14/14 on it. "Well, looks like everyone's here." Akira said, looking at the little Monokumas on the conveyor belt near the snack bar, before turning to face the double doors.

"That's the main theater hall, Akira. I'm not sure you've seen it yet." Kenji replied, but Akira just turned around and started to leave.

"I'll wait until the theater's over. Just try and stay safe, alright?" Akira asked as she took a slow, careful step through the doorway. The light of outside was magnitudes brighter than the dimly lit theater, even in the main lobby. There were no warning beeps emitting from her Monopad, meaning that it was safe for people to leave. Without another ward, Shiro, Miho, Yukata and Setsuki left the theater with Akira.

Kenji looked back at his Monopad, it was still green, though the number changed to 9/14, still 2 over half. They were in the clear as he headed for the concession stand, seeing Yukiji grab the entire box of KitKats from the glass case. "Hey, Yukiji… you're not stealing those, are you?"

"It's not in the regulations, these KitKats are fair game." Yukiji said, setting the box down and climbing over the table. Kenji bought a box of popcorn and a medium cup of Emerald Splash, figuring that would be enough. As he headed for the soda machine, he saw Dahlia there, eyes lit up with delight as she poured a large cup of fruit punch.

"This contraption is simply delightful~ Infinite punch~" She said with a smirk, taking a sip of it and walking into the theater next. Yukiji, hiding behind Kenji, breathed a sigh of relief as they headed in.

The room was nearly pitch black, to be honest, Kenji would probably trip if he didn't know where the stairs were, it was even darker than before. The only guide he had, was floor lights on the tip of each stair, and lining the row of theater seats as him and Yukiji found a seat, sitting next to an apprehensive Hana, who was shriveling against her seat nervously.

"Hana, can we sit here?" Kenji asked, Yukiji leaning over Kenji's shoulder, craning his neck like a curious bird.

"Oh! Kenji… and.. Yukiji's head. Sure, I guess." She said with a nervous smile, Kenji sitting down next to her, and Yukiji sitting next to him in the seat beside the staircase. Akami sat himself in the row behind Yukiji, sitting nervously next to Reiko. Though from his current position, he couldn't see anyone else in the room or where they were sitting,

Two large spotlights were shining on the red curtain, which slowly began to open, as they heard a drumroll play in the orchestra pit. "Ladies and gentlemen! Boys and girls! Vampires and weird kids! Iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiit's TIME!" Monokuma shouted over the speakers.

A fanfare began to play. "Monokuma Theater, baby! Finally I got to do one of these!" He said, popping out of the floor and landing on a single paw, the band playing what could be described as a theme song, though it was just a bunch of wacky sounds to Kenji.

Kenji looked over to Yukiji, who was nervously nibbling through a KitKat like a hamster would eat a leaf, nearly stuffing it into his cheeks as he looked back to the stage. "Star of the show right here, everybody~ No taking pictures with your cell phones or I'll burn you with hot candle wax." Monokuma spoke, Kenji just giving a now trademark sigh as the bear completely ruined the mood again.

"Let's start with the very first subject of Monokuma Theater. Your secrets! We'll be doing these in alphabetical order, starting with your first names. Enjoy the show, eat the popcorn, and shut up!"

 **Act 1: Airi Kudo**

A stagehand pushed a briefcase to the middle of the room on a pedestal, then lasers began to fill the room, as a Monokuma wearing a purple wig, and black gloves began to tiptoe over the lasers, dodging them swiftly.

"Airi Kudo… is The Ultimate Spy. A master who works with private companies, masking her appearance and personality to gather information!" Monokuma announced, the MonoKudo slowly walking over to the briefcase, opening it, and snapping a picture with a camera, before tumbling around on stage.

"Though, being a spy is much less exciting than what you see in the movies, all she does is watch and report things, being more a double agent than a thief or a killer." He continued, the MonoKudo tripping over a laser, turning an alarm on.

Monoguards charged into the room, so MonoKudo hid behind a fern, hoping to elude them, successfully karate chopping a guard, and escaping the room.

The stagehands began to clear the stage, as they got ready for the next secret to reveal. Though, a grating noise began to fill Kenji's ears.

 _Tap tap tap tap_

"What is that…?" Kenji asked himself, looking left and right at Hana and Yukiji, who didn't seem to be paying attention.

 **Act 2: Akira Kazue**

The stage was now outside a school, where a bunch of Monokuma's pretending to be kids were playing around, another one dressed in police gear, with a blue ponytail stood in front of them with an angered expression.

"Akira Kazue… was a delinquinent! She bullied other kids, beat them up and took their lunch money!" He announced, MonoKazue running over, kicking all the smaller kids, before breaking their chalk in her paws.

"She even tried to steal a teacher's car, but because she didn't know how to drive…" MonoKazue climbed into a prop car, turning it on, and driving it through a wall into a cutout of a classroom, destroying many cardboard families of children.

"She injured ten other classmates! And got put in the slammer. Poor Kazue…" He said with a sobbing voice, as an ambulance drove into the school room as well, running over even more children before the Monokuma's could clear the set.

"Psst.. Taisei." He heard a voice from behind his right ear. He turned his head, going face to face with Dahlia, who was staring right into his eyes. He gasped, leaning back and fighting the urge to jump out of his seat.

"D-Dahlia!? Where were you?" He asked, Dahlia hopping over the seat to stand in front of him, partially blocking his view.

"Do you hear that?" she asked, raising a finger, Kenji tried to listen past the loud music, to hear more of the noise he was hearing earlier.

 _Taptaptaptap._

"Y-yeah… I do. Do you know what it is?" Kenji asked, but Dahlia shook her head.

"No, I think one of us should investigate it." she replied, but Reiko walked down the stairs, stepping in between the two, standing next to Yukiji.

"I'll go. That tapping's driving me fuckin' crazy." Reiko said.

"Ah, thank you, Ms. Ono." Dahlia said with a bow, perfectly holding the cup of punch in both hands. Reiko let out a grunt of affirmation before walking off, the vision of her growing dark, as Kenji focused back on the stage.

The stage was a basketball court, so Kenji assumed it must have been Hana.

"Ms. Okamoto was placed on the third string in her Junior High school basketball team, meaning she had to be on the bench most of the game!" Monokuma announced, a HanaKuma wearing a pink wig and wearing a basketball uniform, pulling off some impressive dribbling, before crying while sitting on a bench in front of her coach.

"She was so upset, she decided to have revenge on the person who took her spot." He said, cutting to a practice game where HanaKuma, playing with other teammates. She passed the ball so hard, it hit the other Monokuma and crashed him into the wall.

"She hit her in the mouth so hard with the basketball, she broke 12 of their teeth! She was kicked out from the school, and branded a loser!" ee announced, Hana starting to cry, rubbing her cheek on her forearm.

"I hate this…" Hana said, standing up and running out of the room as act 4 began.

 **Act 4: Miho Ishii**

"STARSTRUCK. Miho Ishii's company, the one her father owns, and she's the top star…" He announced, a MonoMiho diving off the top rope and delivering a huge elbow drop to a Monokuma dressed like a pirate, then a referee gave a three count, before handing her a title.

"But, her daddy started his company… by selling it to the Yakuza!" He announced, an old man Monokuma shaking hands with another Monokuma with an eyepatch and a tiger striped suit.

"Miho knew, but did nothing about it! Knowing that one day the police will come and shut down her company, damning her to obscurity." He said, all the lights turning off and leaving a sad looking MonoMiho looking sad in the ring, her father being arrested by MonoKazue.

 **Act 5: Morida 'Bam' Takahashi  
**

Instead of a sports booth, it looked like a woman's bedroom. A ladder being placed on the window, and a MonoBam climbing up the ladder with a big goofy mohawk, and huge sunglasses. "Professional sportscaster Bam Takahashi… Is a big ol' nasty pervert!" He announced, MonoBam climbing into the room.

"He rifles through drawers of women he doesn't know…" He said, MonoBam pulling out a pair of pink, frilly panties. "And he sniffs their panties, before collecting them for 'personal use' later!" He said, the MonoBam tucking panties into his hair and hopping back out of the window.

That fact made Kenji wide eyed. "THAT'S what Bam's secret was? Oh my god…" He said, face buried into his hands from embarrassment.

Akami gently tapped him on a shoulder. "Kenji?" He asked softly, Kenji turned back to stare at Akami, who was leaning over his seat to look at him.

"What is it?" He asked, Akami looking somewhat concerned.

"I don't like that Reiko went by herself. Is it okay if I go check on her?" He asked, Kenji thinking for a minute, contemplating. He checked his Monopad to see how many were still in theater. 8/14.

"It might be a good idea. Go ahead, don't try to take too long, alright?" Kenji said, Akami giving a thumbs up as he got up to leave.

 **Act 6: Reiko Ono**

The set changed to an alley fight between Monokumas in Killer Queens jackets and another gang of MondoKumas, clad in pompadours of increasing size. "Ah yes, Reiko Ono. Ultimate School Delinquent and leader of the formerly biggest gang in Japan. The Killer Queens." Monokuma began, a OnoKuma in a huge coat wielding a wiffle bat with fake nails taped into it, swinging at several MondoKumas.

"However, it would appear that they crossed paths with the Kuzuryu Clan and the Clan wiped their asses out!" Monokuma continued, showing the eyepatched Monokuma killing several members of OnoKuma's gang. "And if you had been paying attention to Act 4, that Kuzuryu member should look familiar to you… that's right! The same Yakuza that funded STARSTRUCK took out the Killer Queens!" Monokuma said with a mad cackle. "Oh, how I really wish Miho and Reiko were here to see this one. The despair would've been so wonderful! But oh well, the show must go on!"

 **Act 7: Shiro Kiruma**

The set was now a library, where ShiroKuma sat reading a book. "Shiro Kiuma. So proud, so powerful. As the Ultimate Politician, he has control over everything… everything except for one little thing…" Monokuma narrated as ShiroKuma got up, setting down his book and starting to walk only to trip. ShiroKuma flailed his body for several seconds before falling headfirst into the table He lied on the floor, bleeding and twitching. "He can't tie his shoes! That's why he always wears loafers! He also can't cook, but that's not as despair-inducing because he has people cook for him!" he said as an ambulance ran over ShiroKuma, knocking over the bookshelf and sending several students from Akira's scene barreling into the stage.

The Monokuma got out of the ambulance, and laid a plate of cookies next to ShiroKuma's corpse.

 **Act 8: Wakako Nagase**

"Ack! Wh-what?!" Yukiji shrieked, leaping back. Kenji stared at Yukiji, seeing red liquid beginning to stain his shirt.

"YUKIJI!" Kenji shouted, catching the attention of the remaining people in the room, but the thing that came next wasn't what he expected.

"IT'S SO C-COLD!" Yukiji shouted, pushing his hands to his chest, the red liquid dripping on his fingers as Dahlia shot up from the floor near their seats

"Oh darling, I'm so sorry! I spilled my punch on you!" she said, grabbing at his shirt and unbuttoning it. "Here! Let me get you a new shirt!" Dahlia exclaimed, blushing as she saw his pasty, slightly underweight, nude upper body.

"G-gah! Dahlia! Your hands are cold! Stoooooop." Yukiji objected as Dahlia pulled his shirt off, Kenji looking away from this.

"You spilled your punch? Why'd you even get out of your seat?"

"I needed more punch, clearly." Dahlia said as she rolled the shirt into a ball. "Just hold on, Yukiji! All the clothes in the dressing room are mine! I'll get you a shirt from the laundry!" she said, stroking Yukiji's chest with one hand, Kenji grabbing her hand and pulling it off.

"Okay, stop THAT!" Kenji said, Dahlia snatching her hand away and hissing at Kenji, eyes narrowed, and walking off. "You okay, Yukiji?" he asked, Yukiji covering his chest with his arms and shivering.

"It's so c-cold... " Yukiji said, before a small dog leapt into his lap.

"Kiko to the rescue! Cuddle dog is go!" Haru said, his deep voice speaking from the stairs next to Yukiji. Yukiji just smiled, and squeezed the puffball pomeranian in a content cuddlehug.

"Yay…" He chirped, happily. Kenji taking his sweater off over his head and passing it to Yukiji as well.

"Wear this too, at least for some modesty." Kenji said, Yukiji smiling and putting the sweater on. Haru took a seat next to Kenji. Kenj turned his eyes back to the stage, his smile from helping Yukiji fading as he saw the set change.

 **Act 9: Yukata Watanabe**

"We're coming to the end and Y is such an appropriate letter to end it. It sounds like the start of a question. Why are we here? Why do bad things happen to good people? Why… do I smell smoke?" Monokuma asked. Kiko sniffed at the air, letting out a panicked bark in Yukiji's arms.

"What is it, Kiko!?" Haru asked his dog, who skillfully pointed her nose to the stage, where one of the curtains had a dancing flame going up it.

"Is that a fire…?" Yukiji asked, Kenji getting up fast, knocking over his Emerald Splash onto the floor.

"FIRE!" Kenji shouted, running over to the ramp as Monokuma spotted the fire, slowly backing away from it.

"Woah woah woah! Don't spread, you'll burn my precious fur!" He shouted, Kenji cupping his mouth and shouting at the bear across the hall.

"MONOKUMA! WHERE ARE THE FIRE EXTINGUISHERS!?" Kenji shouted, as the remaining students started to panic to escape behind him.

"M-main hall, Kenji! Right next to the door to the Janitor closet!" He shot back, Kenji leaping into the air with energy, kicking the door open, running to the janitor closet, kneeing the glass as hard as he could, and taking the fire extinguisher inside the glass.

He ran back to the theater room, dashing down the stairs and hopping onto the stage, shooting the canister of fire extinguisher at the fire, as it began to ignite the whole curtain, some flames starting to ignite the wood on the floor.

"Kenji! The fire's growing! The fire's growing! I'm outta here!" Monokuma shouted, leaping into the trap door in the theater and disappearing as Kenji continued to fight the fire.

"SOME HELP YOU ARE!" He shouted, hoping Monokuma could hear him. The fire ignited the stage, burning some of the props as the smoke began to fill Kenji's lungs, causing him to break out into a cough. His fire extinguisher fought the fire, but it was spreading faster than he can snuff the flames.

"Damn it, damn it damn it!" Kenji shouted, as he heard a door slam to his right, running out was Akami, spotting the fire, Reiko standing behind him, holding her nail bat.

"KENJI! Why is the stage on fire!?" Akami shouted, covering his mouth with his sleeve so he wouldn't inhale any smoke.

"I don't know! I can't fight the fire! We might need to get out of here!" Kenji shouted back, Akami looking around the room to find something to help fight the fire.

Dahlia ran back through the doors, holding Yukiji's shirt as he scrambled up the stairs, trying to escape.

"Yukiji! I got you your… FIRE! THERE'S A FIRE!" she shouted, a hiss coming from her throat as she grabbed Yukiji's hip, tugging him up the stairs with her to escape the room.

"God damn it, there has to be something we can do!" Kenji shot, before his brain began to think through some of the things he remembered from the day before.

"The fire curtain!" He shouted, looking around for a button to release the fire curtain, eventually seeing one near the entrance of the catwalk, he broke into a dash, pushing the button as hard as he could.

A rope dropped to the ground, the one holding onto the fire curtain, causing it to unravel and fall to the bottom of the stage, then, sprinklers began to turn on, spraying down the theater with water.

 ***Thump***

Kenji couldn't see what made the sound, the fire curtain covered the regular curtain to choke the fire, and obscure the stage. The fire slowly began to choke out, as he ran up to Akami and Reiko, standing together.

"You okay, Kenji…?" Akami asked, looking at him, who was now missing his sweater but seems fine. Akami seemed fine as well, though a little exhausted looking.

The problem was Reiko. Her hand and forearm were covered in cuts and slices, blood dripping from her hands, along with a cut on her head, dripping over one of her eyes and forcing it shut for now.

"W-what happened Reiko?" Kenji asked, but Reiko just snarled, walking past him and slipping under the curtain. Kenji and Akami followed, but on the other side of the curtain…

Bam's body was on the ground, covered in his own blood. His glasses were broken, and had a metal nail sticking out of one of his eyes, he had more cuts on his face, a broken nose, and the pool of blood began to mix with the water dispensed from the sprinklers, his face looked nearly caved in.

At the top of the stage, Yukiji, Haru, and Dahlia all saw the scene on the stage.

"No! BAM!" Kenji shouted, before an announcement played on the PA.

 _Bing Bong Bong Bing._

"A body has been discovered! The trial will begin after a short, 2 hour investigation. All students are required to attend, so meet me back at the dorms, got it? See ya later!" Monokuma announced, before the monitor shut off.

Kenji looked back at Reiko, who was still holding a bat coated in blood, with her looking down at the floor.

"R-Reiko…" Kenji muttered out, as the remaining students who weren't in the theater were led into the room.


	19. Chapter 2: Deadly Life

Chapter 2: Deadly Life 1

"What happened!?" Akira shouted, running down the stairs and climbing onto the stage to stare at Kenji. Kenji looked at the ground, clenching his fists a bit with a sigh.

He saw Bam's body on the ground, but had to dart his eyes away from it because he couldn't stand the sight right now. "S-someone killed Bam, Akira." he said with a frustrated sigh.

"And I've brought the Monokuma File early this time! Tadaaaaaa~" Monokuma shouted, everyone's Monopads activating at the same time with an update.

 _Monokuma File #2  
Bam Takahashi  
Death: Around 4:00 PM  
The victim died in the Theater  
Cause of death: Severe damage to the skull, there are also several smaller cuts piercing deep into his face._

"This one has the time of death, it looks like." Akira said, checking the file as Hana began to cry in the background.

"Bam! Why did they kill Bam!? He wasn't gonna hurt anybody! He was nice and helpful…." Hana sputtered out, Setsuki bending down to try and comfort her as Hana fell to her knees. Tears ran down Hana's cheeks.

Akira sighed, shaking her head. "I still can't get over the fact we're even in this situation, but… to survive, we need to figure out exactly what happened to Bam." she explained, Kenji sighing a bit as the sprinklers finally turned off, the fire nothing but the faint smell of smoke in the building.

'Right, then we'll need to investigate the theater." Kenji said.

"Yes, but first we need to deal with our prime suspect." Shiro said.

"..Prime suspect?" Kenji asked, confused.

"Ono, of course." Shiro alluded to, Reiko gritting her teeth in frustration.

"This is all bullshit!" Reiko growled through her teeth, clenching her hand on the bat so hard her knuckles turned white.

"That's evidence, Ono. Unhand it." Shiro said, pointing to the bat.

"Oh, fuck you! You wanna go, ya little shit?!" Reiko shouted, getting up close to Shiro.

"You're digging your own grave, Reiko. Put the bat down." Airi said calmly.

 **Airi Kudo. Ultimate Spy.**

"Fuck THAT! Fuck YOU! I've been looking for this thing for days! I ain't puttin' it down!" Reiko shouted, waving the bat at Airi. Airi calmly dodged the bat as it got close to her.

"Reiko, I think Airi's right…" Kenji said, holding his hand up. Reiko turned to face him.

"You seriously fucking believe her over me, Kenji?! She's a spy! We don't know who she's workin' for!" Reiko shouted at him, Kenji staying calm.

"At this point… I don't know who to believe… but right now we need to focus on finding the truth… leave the bat with me, I won't let Airi get it. Okay?" Kenji said, keeping his hand out.

"...You better give it back after this all over, Kenji." Reiko grumbled, handing the bloodstained bat to him. Akira moved behind Reiko, quickly cuffing her. "What the fuck- Hey! The fuck are you doing, Akira?!" Reiko snarled.

"You might be disarmed, but you're still our prime suspect and extremely volatile. It's a de-escalation procedure, Reiko." Akira said. 'You're going to stay in my cell until the investigation is concluded."

"The fuck I am! Who the shit said you were in charge!" Reiko said, struggling against the cuff.

"In times of issue, someone has to take charge. You were involved in this murder, Shiro, Yukata, and the others are not, we're the most qualified to investigate than any of you." Akira explained. "Besides, my lab is safer than being out in the open."

Reiko gave a short laugh. "Who the fuck do you think you're dealing with?! I'm the leader of the Killer Queens! Who's gonna try and-"

"YOU BITCH! YOU KILLED HIM!" Hana suddenly shrieked out, charged for Reiko only to be held back by Setsuki.

"Woah woah woah! Easy, Hana… please… we've had enough violence today." Setsuki said, trying to calm Hana down

"And yet we have a class trial to finish." Shiro said. "Now then, Akira will be escorting Ono to her cell, while I investigate."

"I'm investigating this too." Kenji said.

"Wrong. You, Yamada, Sakiko, Kurotsuki, Chimon and Kudo are also under suspicion. We cannot risk any tampering with the crime scenes." Shiro said.

"What?! How can you just s-"

"Taisei, I might think you're an idiot, but you know I'm doing this for the truth. Tampering will kill all of us, and I will not allow it while this investigation is under my authority." Shiro said

'Who said this case was under your authority?! You weren't there! You didn't see the fire! You didn't see Bam's body!" Kenji shouted. "Hell, you don't even know how to-" Kenji began, only for Shiro to get dangerously close to him.

"You. Will not. Finish that sentence if you know what is best for you, Taisei." he said, venomously, before turning to Miho, who was staring at the two of them.

"Ishii, go help Akira deal with Ono." he asked, Miho just nodded, climbing off the stage and running off.

"Look, I'm helping in this investigation whether you like it or not, Kiruma. I know the theater better than you do." Kenji said.

"And you'd know what to dispose of. This is not a negotiation, Taisei. This is an order." Shiro said.

'You're not the boss of me!" Kenji shouted, the two going face-to-face with each other, snarling as their foreheads lightly slammed together.

"Both of you, shut up!" Airi said, walking up and slapping both of them on the face in sequence.

"Anh! Kudo! How dare you-" Shiro began, only to get backhanded in response. Kenji laughed at that, only to get another slap.

"Damn." Setsuki said in response to all the slapping Airi was dishing out.

"We have more important things to worry about than your petty squabble. Whatever problems you have with each other, you can settle them -after- the investigation. We're gathering information, your opinions are invalid. Understood!?" Airi said, readying the back of her hand in front of both of them. 

"...Fine." Kenji said.

"And who are you to say what-" Shiro began, getting a third slap for his troubles.

"Shiro, you are not the one who should be claiming others will harm a case given your unwillingness to share the door openings until it was convenient for you. And Kenji, much as you may hate him, Shiro has the best interests of this case in mind. So, I have an offer. I will recuse myself from this case on the simple condition that you two work together on this investigation. No insults, no fistfighting, cooperation. Understood?" Airi asked.

Kenji wasn't sure about this. Reiko had brought up a good point that Airi was a spy. He didn't know who she really sided with. But… he wanted to solve Bam's murder. "If we have a deal, both of you shake on it." Airi said. Kenji and Shiro turned and faced each other. Shiro extended a gloved hand, Kenji staring at it briefly before finally shaking it. The two gripped hands tightly, eyes dead-on each other for what felt like a minute.

"Good… oh, and Kenji?' Airi said, Kenji turning to her and getting slapped.

"Ow! What was that for?!" Kenji asked.

"I thought it was unfair that Shiro got slapped three times and you only got two slaps. I was making it even." Airi said, walking off. "If you need me, I'll be in my lab. Please, don't need me."

"The first thing we need to deal with is the status of the body." Shiro said, rubbing his handprint marked cheek, Kenji rubbing his own as he sighed.

"And you want me to do it, right?" Kenji asked, Shiro not even responding as he walked off to investigate the burnt curtain. "Ugh, whatever…" Kenji groaned, getting on a knee to examine Bam's body.

Seeing this close and in much more detail made his stomach upset, Bam was a mess. His mouth was covered in duct tape, the corners of it worn from what he assumed to be screaming for help. His eyes were closed, but there was a nail sticking out of one of his eyes, roughly 8 inches in length, but the head of the nail was IN his eye, leaving the pointed bit poking out, Kenji could barely hold back the vomit.

"This is so messed up." Kenji said, gently pushing Bam's body onto it's stomach, revealing his back. Both of his arms were tied together behind his back, and secured with a pair of handcuffs. "Shiro? Come here." Kenji asked, Shiro turning around, and hovering over him as he looked at the body as well.

"Yes?" Shiro asked bluntly, adjusting his expensive glasses for a better look.

"These have to be Akira's handcuffs. I don't know where else they could come from." Kenji claimed, Shiro gently gripping Bam's hand, twisting his wrist gently to look at his arms.

"His wrists appear to be bruised. He must have struggled a while in the handcuffs before he died." Shiro observed, Kenji standing up and gently adjusting his head to see the wound. It matched with the description of the Monokuma file perfectly, the front of his face was smashed in, with occasional deep wounds about as thick as the nail in his eye.

Kenji wrapped up looking at his now dead friend's body, looking over at the fire curtain currently draping the divide between backstage and the audience seats, there was blood on the edge of the fire curtain, it soaked mostly the tip of the fabric from a first glance, but he looked back at Shiro to see if he noticed the same thing.

Instead, he was investigating a small panel in the floor of the stage. "Taisei, over here." He announced, Kenji sighed, walking over to him as he opened the panel on the floor. "Do you think there could be any leads to what happened underneath the stage?" Shiro asked, Kenji furrowing his brow in thought.

"I don't think so… But we could check if we wanted to be thorough." Kenji replied, gently sliding into the hole and landing on the floor underneath the stage. It was nearly pitch black, so Kenji began to squint his eyes.

"I can't see down here!" Kenji complained up at Shiro.

"Your Monopad's screen can be used as a light, Taisei." Shiro shot back, Kenji taking his Monopad out of his pocket, switching to the brightest screen her had and turned it in front of him. It dimly reflected against the ground and walls, just enough for him to find his way. Kenji was on a knee, sliding forward and using his hand to guide him until his knuckle hit something hard, causing it to rattle and bounce against the wall.

"What was that?" Kenji asked, shining the light on the object, it appeared to be a nail, similar to the one he found in Bam, but there was a major difference between that one, and this one. The nail was older and rusted, despite being the same length, and there didn't appear to be any bloodstains on it.

"Anything, Taisei?" Shiro announced, Kenji looking back to the light and seeing the light of his Monopad reflecting on Shiro's glasses.

"I found a weird nail. I'm going to see what else is down here." He said, the water dripping from the sprinkler, through the cracks of the stage and dropping on his head, much to his annoyance, as he shined the light next to the wall that the nail was.

The wall was covered with nearly a dozen switches, each one with a number on them like 25v, 50v and up. "I found a couple of circuit breakers down here. Should I see where they go to?" Kenji asked, but Shiro furrowed his brow with disapproval.

"We shouldn't mess with it. It may be important, but I think turning the power on and off is a productive waste of our time." Shiro replied, Kenji just sighing as he turned around, looking at going back to the entrance before he noticed something.

Where the band that Monokuma had was playing their music, the front of the stage was just draped in a simple red and black curtain. He slowly crawled to the curtain, ducking his head underneath it and popping back up in the orchestra pit.

"Guess that's another way out." Yukata mentioned, who was investigating near the orchestra pit anyway.

"Yeah, looks like this is a fast way to get on stage." Kenji said, Shiro ducking into the backstage area, As Kenji hopped onto the stage, climbing up to follow him back there, as he stood between the catwalk, and the entrance to the prop room.

"So then, where shall we go next, Taisei?" Shiro asked, Kenji putting a hand to his chin.

"We need to see what was on that catwalk." Kenji mentioned, Shiro nodding and observing as Kenji then hiked up the stairs to the catwalk, a metal staircase and a grate that went over the stage. He walked across it, looking at the exact angle the body could have been dropped. He leaned against the wall, pressing his hand to where the fire curtain would unravel. "The body must have been put here." Kenji said, since there wasn't anything above him except for the lighting rig.

"There's no bloodstain up here or anything." He said, walking across it until a glint hit the corner of his eye. "What was that?" Kenji asked, bending over the catwalk to get a better look. Haru and Yukata were standing on the stage, so Kenji called to them.

"Hey, do you see behind the curtain over there? There's something silver. Can anyone get it to me?" Kenji asked, Haru whistled, pointing to the object, Kiko going to fetch it in a quick dash, hopping up each stair and dropping it in front of him.

Kenji pet her head. "Good dog." He said with a smile, before taking the object into his hand to inspect it. It was a small silver lighter, the kind you flip up and it provides a constant flame until you close the clasp and choke the oxygen. "We have our fire source, Shiro!" He announced, Shiro adjusting his glasses as he decided to walk into the prop room.

Kenji sighed again. "He's not being helpful, he isn't even talking to me." Kenji complained, walking down the stairs, and heading to the prop room as well, closing the door behind him as they both stepped inside to the rather strange scene.

A bookshelf was knocked over, and the ceiling fan was spinning at full speed, with a piece of rope tied to it spinning over and over, making Shiro duck every second or so as he inspected the doorknob.

On the doorknob, was a piece of rope tied around it in a knot, the edges appearing to be fraying off, the actual doorknob itself was nearly hanging off the door, and the lock was jutting out, preventing it from closing all the way. Next to the broken doorknob, was a huge dent in the door that faced the room.

"Someone must have kicked the door in to cause this much damage." Shiro noticed, but Kenji was staring at the floor. Shiro turned around, following his arm to see the large splatter of blood on the carpet covering the wooden floor underneath it.

"A bloodstain this big? This could mean a lot of things... " Shiro said, crouching in front of it, gently pushing a gloved finger into it to inspect his glove, now stained by the blood. "It's actually pretty fresh. The murder must've really happened around 4 PM." Shiro remarked, but Kenji just sighed, turning around and opening the door back open.

"That seems to be it for the obvious things within this room. I think the bat Reiko was holding is paramount in the situation of this room." Shiro continued, brushing his glove off and walking across the stage, gently hopping down and walking out of the room as Kenji spoke.

"There's a couple more rooms in this building, like the janitor's closet and the prompter's booth that we haven't seen yet. Can we go there?" Kenji asked, Shiro nodding as they got near the lobby. Kenji went to the janitor's door, opening it and taking a look inside.

On the very bottom of the janitors closet was a few specks of blood, not even enough to make it a stain, it was more like a couple of drops of blood. "That's… strange. Why is there blood in this closet?" Kenji asked himself, as Shiro walked up the stairs to the prompter's booth, but when he twisted the handle, it didn't budge.

"Taisei? I need assistance." Shiro asked, Kenji looking up, walking over to the door and standing just behind him, he gently shook the knob again as he looked back at Kenji.

"The door is locked, I can't seem to get it open." Shiro announced, Kenji walking up, grabbing the knob and shaking it a few times as well, the door handle opened, but he couldn't push the door open more than half an inch.

"You may want to step aside..." he said, Shiro moving aside while Kenji moved to the edge of the stairway. He charged with all the force he could muster straight into the door. The door busted open, Kenji hitting the floor and splinters of wood shattering everywhere around him. "Ow." he said as he got up, feeling a soreness in his shoulder. Shiro walked past him into the room.

The room was organized the last time Kenji saw it, but this time it was quite a mess. While he didn't see any blood, there was broken doorknobs, a broken microphone, and duct tape on the floor. He walked up to the door, the knob was completely busted off, and on the floor beside a large broken ribbon microphone missing from the prompter booth.

"It looks like there was a fight in here." Kenji stated, looking at the carpet Shiro was standing on as the gears began to turn in his head. Something felt off about it as Shiro spoke.

"Why would someone barricade this room, if the murder happened in another room?" Shiro asked, stroking his chin with his still clean glove as Kenji walked over, gently pushing him on his shoulder.

"Get off the carpet, please. I just noticed something weird about it." Kenji said, Shiro just shaking his head as Kenji got off the carpet as well, reaching down and gripping it in his hands.

"The last time I was in here, the carpet was a rubber bottom carpet, but… the rubber is on top. I want to see what's on the other side of this carpet." He said, peeling it back to flip it over, and revealing another large bloodstain near the edge of that carpet.

"There's a bloodstain in here too?" Kenji asked, confused, Shiro just sighing as he shook his head.

"We might have to figure this out during the trial, Taisei. This is getting odd." Shiro said, pushing up his glasses. Kenji and Shiro began to leave the room, but Kenji wanted to know where the splinters from the door came from.

"What are you doing?" Shiro asked, looking back at Kenji, who bent down on one knee to inspect the door some.

"This door is metal. Why did wood scatter everywhere?" He asked, inspecting the lock on the door, to see that the sliding latch lock wasn't even bent. "I think this door must've been barricaded with a piece of wood, instead of locked, but why wasn't it locked?" He asked, Shiro shaking his head as he turned back to the entrance.

"I think we might need to finish here, and see if Akira has finished up locking Ono until the trial arrives." He said as he walked to the door, but as soon as he was about to open it, it was Akira opening it instead.

"Kenji, we have a problem." Akira said, but realized she was looking at Shiro.

"I assume the issue is Ono escaped. She won't get far before Monokuma forces her to the trial room…" Shiro said.

"No, Reiko's sitting in the cell. Well, kicking the glass, but she's in the cell. It's bulletproof, she will be fine. Probably, kind of, I hope. Anyway! C'mon, Kenji. We gotta go." Akira said, Kenji getting up to follow her when Shiro blocked him with his arm.

"Taisei is finishing up the investigation. If there is something you need, come to me." Shiro said.

"No, I need Kenji for this." Akira said quickly.

"...And why is that?" Shiro asked, pushing his glasses and giving an appraising look to Akira.

"Ah… look, Reiko's been difficult enough to deal with on my own. If she sees you, she might actually break the glass!" she argued, Shiro dropping his arm.

"Fair enough. I admit, having to be in a room with Ono is not an idea I'd look forward to. I'll finish up investigation here. Taisei, the lighter…" Shiro said, holding out a hand. Kenji handed him the silver lighter, following Akira as she ran down the steps.

"What's going on, Akira?" Kenji asked.

"I'll explain at the lab!" she answered, running out of the theater and on the path to the labs. They rushed to Akira's lab, opening up to find Reiko kicking at the glass, shouting obscenities. Kenji's eyes turned to the handcuffs, seeing two pairs still there. Akira reached down to the floor, grabbing a light blue kitty slipper.

"...Uh… your slipper?" Kenji said, confused as Akira used it to cover her mouth.

"It's where I hid Emi's keycard. It's not in either one. It's not in the lab!" she whispered, Kenji's eyes going wide.

"Wh-what?! Who- how did-" Kenji said, struggling to form words.

"I don't know! I've checked everywhere! I don't know why anyone would take it! I can't even think of where to-" Akira rambled on when Kenji suddenly shouted.

"Hey! Monokuma!" he called, the bear popping up.

"You called for me, so I appear! Kyahahahaha~" he said. "What can I do for you tonight, Kenji? We got about half an hour before trial time!"

"Emi's keycard has gone missing. You got it?" Akira asked.

"Oh hush sweetie, you know I got the goods." Monokuma said, jokingly, reaching behind his back and pulling out the keycard in question. "Tadah! Once again, ain't telling where I got it. Buuut it was the same place I found Airi's keycard!" Monokuma said before disappearing.

"Hm... if that's the case, then maybe we need to go in and check the lab out." Kenji said.

"Kenji, no. I told you that you're not allowed back in there, remember? There's no reason to-" Akira said before Kenji cut her off.

"No, I think I have an idea of why someone would steal this… I just need to get in and confirm it. If I break down, drag me out there, okay?" Kenji said.

"Okay. Just a few minutes, we haven't got a lot of time left for this investigation." Akira said, the two heading for Emi's lab. They put in the keycard, Kenji trying to shut his emotions out of it as he opened the door and stepped into the room. Inside, he saw one of the workbenches had a hammer and nails set on it, but most of the other objects were on the floor.

"Hm… I think I had the right idea coming here." Kenji said, looking around the lab. He noticed something else that looked off from his first time in here; one of the drawers was slightly opened. He opened the drawer and saw it was where Akira had put all the photos in the lab. He shut the drawer before reopening it. He kept at this a few times.

"What's up, Kenji? Found something?" Akira asked, walking over to him.

"Just checking to see if this was opened before. It wasn't shut all the way and I know you wouldn't leave a drawer partly open…" Kenji said. "So that means someone got into the drawer… and I think they took one of the pictures. I can't remember which ones were in here..." he explained, shuffling through photos when Akira's eyes widened.

"Kenji, I just thought of something. You remember what Monokuma said? He found Emi's keycard in the same place as Airi's. Then that means whoever broke into Emi's lab, probably did the same to Airi." she said, running out of the lab. Kenji following after her. They stopped at Airi's lab, Akira knocking on the door. Airi opened the door.

"How's the investigation going?" Airi asked.

"We're… well, we found clues, it just hasn't come together yet. Airi, has anything gone missing from your lab?" Kenji said.

"Not missing, but there's something wrong. One of the bottles of chemicals in my lab has had it's safety seal punctured." Airi said.

"What was in it?" Akira asked.

"Uhh… Chloroform." Airi answered.

"Your room has CHLOROFORM!?" Akira shouted in shock.

"She's the Ultimate Spy, Akira… It's a long story." Kenji said. "Thanks, Airi. I think we're good."

 _Ding Dong. Dong Ding._

"Okay, this investigation has gone on too long! You better get your butts to the entrance hall because we're doing a class trial, baby! Spin! Spin! Spin!" came Monokuma's announcement, spinning in his chair a few times with excitement before the monitor turned off.

"Kenji… did you do it?" Akira asked, suddenly, looking at her hands. "Or… do you think you know who did it?"

"It wasn't me, but.. I don't have any solid ideas yet." he answered as he, Akira and Airi left the labs and headed for the main building. They met up with the other students on the way back. Thirteen students left as they stood at the statue of Junko Enoshima and Monokuma. The statue once again moved aside for the elevator to rise up. They all assembled on the platform, and the whole machine shifted, slowly sinking into the floor.

'So, this is real.' Kenji thought to himself. 'No masterminds, no tricks.' He began to look around the elevator, everyone completely dead silent as the lights passed by every couple dozen feet.

'Someone here is a killer, and they want us to lose… I can't believe it, but… It's real.'

'The sun rises on another Class Trial. And when it sets… We'll know the real truth.'


	20. CLASS TRIAL 2

**CLASS TRIAL! ALL RISE!**

 _The remaining living students were assembled in the circle of podiums yet again, but with subtle differences, the room was darker, and draped in similar curtains to the ones in the theater room, Emi's and Bam's pictures were now placed at each of their positions at the podium, with their faces crossed out with red paint. Monokuma was seated in the same throne chair as before, and the monitor beside him seemed similar to the one last time._

 **Monokuma:** Allow me to call this Class Trial into session! Before we begin, allow me to begin with a basic explanation of the class trial! During the trial, you will be presenting your arguments over a simple question of 'Whodunnit'? At the end of the trial, or the end of the countdown monitor placed to my side, a vote will be called.

 **Monokuma Cont'd:** If the majority is successful in voting for the correct student, the Blackened will be punished. But, if you vote for the wrong one? All students besides the blackened will be punished instead, which will result in the Blackened graduating the school, and escaping back to the outside world.

 **Monokuma Cont'd:** If you refuse to vote, you will be dealt with. As in… You'll die. So remember to vote, everybody! Let's get this rip-roaring, extreme to the max, dramatic blockbuster of a class trial underway!

 **Shiro Kiruma** : There's a very major issue with the very concept of this class trial that may make it much more difficult than the previous one. The motive.

 **Shiro Kiruma Cont'd** : The motive states that the culprit will be able to select one person to escape with them out of the university after the class trial has been completed.

 **Setsuki Yori** : Does that change anything about how this trial is going to work, Shiro?

 **Shiro Kiruma** : It changes everything about this trial, Yori. This means that it's more than likely one of the students in the theater has the potential of being an accomplice, this adds much more depth to the case, because the accomplice can provide a solid alibi for the culprit, and… even worse.

 **Setsuki Yori:** Worse? What could be worse than that?

 **Shiro Kiruma:** Well, the accomplice could have committed actions that throws the guilt and suspicion on them, and if we vote for them, the culprit wins the trial. Then the culprit and the accomplice would both be able to escape, while we all die.

 **Setsuki Yori:** Oh wow! I didn't think of that, that's REALLY bad!

 **Yukata Watanabe:** Monokuma, could you confirm that an accomplice was used for this murder?

 **Monokuma:** No, ya nitwit! Providing the chance to use an accomplice was like… the entire point of this motive. Figure that out for yourself!

 **Yukata Watanabe:** Well… It was worth trying. Shit.

 **Shiro Kiruma:** Another problem is the fact that roughly a third of the students here weren't witnesses of the happenings in the Theater. We have to go entirely based off the stories of the suspects, since we don't have the benefit of an entirely objective witness.

 **Akira Kazue:** I think what we might have to do is have each of the students in the theater give their version of events, and try to see if they line up or not.

 **Akira Kazue Cont'd:** Parts that match up are the truth. Parts that struggle to be corroborated might be the potential lies in the testimony. It may be tedious, but it's our best shot. Let's try and get the order of events sorted with before we continue to the murder itself.

 **Hana Okamoto:** And you better not lie! I can tell if you're a big fat liar!

 **Shiro Kiruma:** And we'll start with Taisei, I believe. Recall the events of the murder to the best of your recollection.

 **Kenji Taisei:** When I got to the theater, I didn't see Bam enter the theater, but when I checked my Monopad, it said he was present. Akira then spoke with me to watch over Yukiji since they're rather close with each other.

 **Kenji Taisei Cont'd:** I grabbed a soda, then escorted Yukiji to the seat next to mine so we could watch the Monokuma Theater together. The theater started, and secrets started getting listed off.

 **Yukiji Chimon:** Yeah… Kenji hung out with me the entire time, our stories are going to be exactly the same.

 **Kenji Taisei:** It started out rather normal, but when Hana's secret came out, that she intentionally hurt another player on her team, she got upset, and ran out.

 **Hana Okamoto:** …

 **Kenji Taisei:** Sorry, Hana. I was just making sure not to leave out any details.

 **Kenji Taisei Cont'd:** Then, a strange tapping sound began to get on my nerves. Dahlia came to speak with me that it was bugging her as well. Reiko then offered to investigate it for us. Reiko left, and the tapping continued for a while, as Monokuma continued to list off secrets.

 **Kenji Taisei Cont'd:** Dahlia got into the seat with Yukiji and I, and then Akami spoke to me, it had been a few minutes since Reiko went to find the source of the noise, and wanted to check if she was okay.

 **Akami Sakiko:** Did I do something wrong by doing that? I hope not… I just got worried, okay? Wandering off isn't really a great idea when we think a murder is gonna happen.

 **Reiko Ono:** You're calling it a bad fuckin' idea? There might have been a bomb in the theater or somethin'. How in the shit would you NOT investigate a mysterious noise?

 **Akami Sakiko:** Calm down, lady! Jeez…

 **Kenji Taisei:** Anyway... Dahlia spilled punch on Yukiji, getting it all over his clothes, and offered to get some clean ones, so she left the theater for a while.

 **Shiro Kiruma:** That all sounds solid. Kudo, can you confirm this?

 **Airi Kudo:** I wasn't seated anywhere near Kenji, but I did hear Yukiji shout, Haru ran over to aid Yukiji, and Dahlia did leave the theater afterward.

 **Kiko:** Arf! Arf!

 **Monokuma:** Oh boy, he brought that damn dog again… Stop looking at me with those big beady eyes!

 **Kiko:** Arf!

 **Monokuma:** _Sigh_ What can I do…? I'm being upstaged here by a puff-dog.

 **Haru Yamada:** Yukiji had some red stuff on his shirt, and he started shivering, so I went up to try and warm him up by giving him Kiko to cuddle. Kenji also lended his sweater vest to him until Dahlia brought him a clean shirt.

 **Kenji Taisei:** I wasn't finished yet with my recollection, by the way. More happened after that, we're not investigating who spilt punch… We're investigating the murder.

 **Shiro Kiruma:** Go ahead, Taisei.

 **Kenji Taisei:** Right. Slightly after Shiro's secret was revealed, the room began to fill with a weird haze, this turned out to be smoke. Apparently at some point, the curtains were lit on fire, and the fire began to consume the stage.

 **Yukiji Chimon:** I think there were only like… 4 people in the audience at the time. It was something about Shiro's shoes.

 **Shiro Kiruma:** Chimon has already said too much! Any of you watching who complete his statement will not see the end of this trial!

 **Kenji Taisei:** Okay… stay calm, Shiro. We won't divulge your secret.

 **Shiro Kiruma:** _Sighs_ Continue...

 **Kenji Taisei:** Me, Yukiji, Airi and Haru. Dahlia left, and Reiko and Akami were backstage.

 **Kenji Taisei:** Spotting the fire, I asked Monokuma to help me find a fire extinguisher, so I rushed to the lobby, grabbed the fire extinguisher, and started to try and put out the flames.

 **Miho Ishii:** Wait, but that means that there were only six of us in the theater!

 **Kenji Taisei:** Is that an issue?

 **Miho Ishii:** Yeah it's an issue, dude! Remember? Monokuma said if the number of students drops below half of 14, the Monopads will go off. Since we're all alive, the number had to stay above 7.

 **Monokuma:** Oooh, it's debate time! Let's get ready, boys and girls!

 _Debate Starts_

 **Kenji Taisei:** …No timer this time?

 _Debate Stops_

 **Monokuma:** I got bored, so I decided to scrap it. I'll just yell at you guys to get a move on if you take too long. Now shut up and debate!

 _Debate Starts… Again_

 **Miho ishii:** You're tellin' me… That one of the 7 of you left the building. That would make it six, wouldn't it?

 **Shiro Kiruma:** Taisei, Kudo, Yamada, Chimon, Ono and Sakiko. I, Kazue, Ishii, Yori, and Watanabe were all outside of the building.

 **Setsuki Yori:** Does that mean Hana was still in the building?

 **Hana Okamoto:** No, I wasn't! I went to my bedroom.

 **Haru Yamada:** Maybe the Monopad was counting Kiko!

 **Kiko:** Woof!

 **Yukata Watanabe:** Maybe the Monopad was still counting Bam as alive?

 **Kenji Taisei:** **I agree with that!**

 _Debate Stops  
_

 **Kenji Taisei Cont'd:** Yeah, we found Bam's body in the theater, so he had to have come to the theater.

 **Shiro Kiruma:** Yes, but none of us saw him enter the theater, and no one saw him even during that morning's breakfast.

 **Kenji Taisei:** No, one of us did see him this morning. In fact, two people did. Hana? Setsuki?

 **Hana Okamoto** : …

 **Setsuki Yori:** ...Looks like I'm doing the talking this time.  
 **  
Setsuki Yori Cont'd:** Hana, Bam and I usually wake up pretty early in the morning so we can get some training in before breakfast. Bam got up, but told me he was feeling sick, and wanted to go back to bed.  
 **  
Yukata Watanabe:** Wait, you train before breakfast, too?

 **Setsuki Yori:** Yeah, I do. It's a mental exercise to train against your hunger, it improves mental clarity and intuitiveness.

 **Yukata Watanabe:** Well I'll be damned.. Never thought of that.

 **Shiro Kiruma:** And Okamoto witnessed this event, correct?

 **Hana Okamoto:** ...Yeah. I did.

 **Kenji Taisei:** And since Setsuki never entered the building where the murder happened, Hana and Setsuki couldn't be the culprit, or the accomplice.

 **Shiro Kiruma:** Perhaps, but if Takahashi was bedridden, then that means he wouldn't have been in the theater for some time.

 **Hana Okamoto:** ...Well, no. He was there…

 **Shiro Kiruma:** Hm?

 **Hana Okamoto:** After we found the body… I grabbed Bam's Monopass…

 **Akira Kazue:** Huh? His Monopass? Why?

 **Hana Okamoto:** I wanted to get something from his dorm to remember him… while I was looking I found something in his trash...

 **Airi Kudo:** It better not have been one of his pairs of… used panties. The very thought disgusts me.

 **Miho Ishii:** THAT'S his secret!? HOLY SHIT.

 **Akira Kazue:** Ugh… If I knew that, I would've locked that creep up!

 **Hana Okamoto:** Shut up, both of you! I'm talking…

 _Hana retrieved something from the inside of her shirt, a small piece of crumpled paper._

 **Hana Okamoto Cont'd:** It's a note that was written to him, I guess he got it this morning.

 _The contents of the note displayed on the screen. "Please meet me in the Theater at 6:30 AM. I need to speak with you about the nature of my secret - Reiko"_

 **Hana Okamoto Cont'd:** And… and that means... REIKO KILLED HIM!

 **Reiko Ono: The FUCK did you just say, you little shit?!**

 _Debate Starts_

 **Reiko Ono:** I didn't write the goddamned note! That's a load of horseshit!  
 **  
Hana Okamoto:** You lured him there, and you killed him!

 **Hana Okamoto:** You lured him there, killed him, then hid the body! There's no other way to explain why you gave him that note! You must have had a secret relating to him.

 **Kenji Taisei:** This is all way to sudden, can we all just calm down!?

 **Hana Okamoto:** You must have killed him this morning, and took the Monopad with you!

 **Reiko Ono:** W-what the shit!?

 **Kenji Taisei: No! That's wrong!**

 _Debate stops_ **Kenji Taisei:** Did you read the Monokuma file, Hana? Let me bring it up for you.

 _Kenji swiped on his Monopad, the Monokuma File in question appearing on the screen._

 _Monokuma File #2  
Bam Takahashi  
Death: Around 4:00 PM  
The victim died in the Theater  
Cause of death: Severe damage to the skull, there are also several smaller cuts piercing deep into his face.  
_

 **Kenji Taisei:** He died around 4PM. That's an objective fact… Reiko couldn't kill him this morning because she was at breakfast with everyone else around 7AM. If she was killing him at the time, she wouldn't be there.

 **Hana Okamoto:** Then she killed him at 4:00 PM! Whatever, she still did it!

 **Kenji Taisei:** No, because it says to meet him at 6:30 AM. If she met him at that point, then he moved to the theater while he was alive, then Reiko didn't kill him at that point.

 **Reiko Ono:** See? Told ya it was bullshit!

 **Shiro Kiruma:** If the soap opera is over, I would like to return to the original subject I said we were doing. Gathering accounts of the events that happened in the theater. Chimon and Taisei explained their version of the story, but Sakiko, Kurotsuki, and Ono's accounts are still in question.

 **Shiro Kiruma:** Mr. Sakiko, please account what happened during the time of the murder.

 **Akami Sakiko:** Right… I sat behind Hana at first, with Reiko sitting beside me. Then saw Kenji and Yukiji sit beside Hana.

 **Akami Sakiko Cont'd:** Hana ran off, then Dahlia replaced her after she asked Kenji to investigate the noise. Reiko went, and was gone about five minutes. I got concerned, so I asked Kenji if it was alright for me to go see if I could help her out.

 **Hana Okamoto:** Help her COMMIT MURDER!?

 **Akami Sakiko:** Shh. I'm talking.

 **Miho Ishii:** God is this gonna be the only thing she does this whole time?

 **Akami Sakiko:** I'm TALKING.

 **Reiko Ono:** Akami couldn't even help me if I did commit the murder.

 **Akami Sakiko:** ALL OF YOU SHUT YOUR FUCKING FACES! I. AM. TALKING! SHUTUPSHUTUPSHUTUP!

 **Kenji Taisei:** …

 **Yukata Watanabe:** …Woah, he's a mad lil dude.

 **Akami Sakiko:** _Clears his throat._ Excuse me… but yes, I had left the theater to catch up with Reiko. NOT to assist her in murder, Hana. You fucking charlatan!

 **Akami Sakiko Cont'd:** When I got onto the stage, I snuck behind the curtain in hopes of not interrupting Monokuma, when I got to the prop room, the door was locked and that noise kept happening. It was weird, the lock was jammed, I couldn't possibly open it.

 **Akami Sakiko Cont'd:** Then, Reiko busted out of the room by kicking it as hard as she could, nearly breaking it off its hinges, she was covered in blood. Blood on her hands, and blood on her face. By the time I was going to ask her what happened, the curtains were on fire and Kenji was shouting at everyone.

 **Shiro Kiruma:** That's all?

 **Akami Sakiko:** That's all I got.

 **Shiro Kiruma:** You don't even know why she was covered in blood?

 **Akami Sakiko:** _Flashes a peace sign_ Nope!

 **Shiro Kiruma:** That… didn't help as much as I thought it would.

 **Akira Kazue:** Regardless of if it helped or not, it's still good to know the order of events in the building, since I wasn't there for either the murder, or the investigation. I was dealing with Reiko at the time.

 **Reiko Ono:** What, am I a fucking gorilla now? You don't have to act like I'm just a walking rabid murderer, ya know?

 **Akira Kazue:** I told you, I was being careful!

 **Reiko Ono:** Just because I won't give you my bat doesn't mean I was gonna use it! The fuck's wrong with you, cop lady?

 **Akira Kazue:** Who the heck walks around with a murder weapon if they're NOT going to murder someone!?

 **Kenji Taisei** : That's a whole other bag of worms, Akira. I'd rather not comment.

 **Shiro Kiruma:** The rattling noise is a throughline of all these testimonies. I want to figure out what the source of that noise could possibly be.  
 **  
Reiko Ono:** I know what it was, if I can fucking explain anything before people start jumping my back.

 **Reiko Ono Cont'd:** Someone set up a stupid shitty prank or something when I opened the door. It locked behind me, and my bat was tied to a rope attached to a doorknob, I tore the rope off, which caused it to swing like a fucking flail, and the fan was on full speed!

 **Akira Kazue:** The bat… was tied to a rope… attached to the ceiling fan, and when you tore the rope tied to the door, it started flailing everywhere?

 **Reiko Ono:** Fuckin' yeah it did. It cut the shit out of me while I was grabbing the nailbat, but I had to fight the fan in a tug-o-war to get it. I tripped, slammed my face into a bookshelf and it all fell down.

 **Reiko Ono Cont'd:** Now I was locked inside the room, and the doorknob wasn't working, so I kicked the bajeezus out of the door, which got it open again, and I saw Akami staring at me on the other side of the door.

 **Kenji Taisei:** Did the prop room door have a lock? Fuck, I wish I checked before the murder happened…

 **Yukiji Chimon:** It did in fact have a lock. The lock can be activated, but not actually lock the door until the handle is let go of.

 **Kenji Taisei:** So… that means the rope tied from the fan to the door had two purposes. To hold the bat in place, and…  
 **  
Hana Okamoto: Wait, hold on…**

 **Hana Okamoto:**

Her being locked in that room doesn't make her innocent of the murder! That doesn't explain anything about how the murder happened either!  
 **  
Kenji Taisei:** What do you mean?

 **Hana Okamoto** : I read the Monokuma File, and it said he died of getting hit with a blunt object with spikes. She could have killed Bam, moved his body, then locked herself in the room by the time Akami went to find her!

 _Debate Start  
_

 **Hana Okamoto:** Reiko was holding the murder weapon when she exited the room, didn't she!?

 **Akami Sakiko:** Yeah, she was holding the bat with the nails in it.

 **Hana Okamoto:** She clobbered Bam with the bat, and easily moved him to the stage by the time Akami found her!

 **Reiko Ono:** Slow your go, you crazy lil bitch! How the fuck do you know how I killed him if you no one saw me do it!?

 **Hana Okamoto:** You killed him, moved his body, then went back into the room to lock yourself in!

 **Reiko Ono:** And how did I move him?

 **Hana Okamoto:** You moved him to the stage, you asshole!

 **Kenji Taisei:** **No, that's wrong!**

 **Kenji Taisei:** That isn't where we found the body, Hana… we found it wrapped up in the fire curtain. The fire must have been intentional, because the fire curtain falling was the only way we could have seen the body.  
 **  
Airi Kudo:** That's why the fire was intentionally started, and there were blood stains on the edge of the fire curtain, so the blood must have been soaking into it for at least a few minutes.

 **Hana Okamoto:** So she wrapped him up in the fire curtain, then locked herself in the prop room!

 **Reiko Ono:** Are you fucking serious with this?! How long are you gonna keep accusin' me of shit I didn't do?!

 **Hana Okamoto:** Because nothing you said makes me doubt that you did it!

 **Reiko Ono:** Then what the fuck kind of proof do you need!?  
 **  
Shiro Kiruma:** Okamoto raises a good point. For someone who claims innocence, Ono's volatile personality makes it difficult to believe she didn't do it.

 **Reiko Ono:** Oh, you wanna fucking go too, Shiro?!

 **Airi Kudo:** Reiko, calm down. Threats like that are just gonna make people suspect you even more.

 **Reiko Ono:** You fucking stay calm while everyone's callin' you a murderer!

 **Kenji Taisei:** _There's something we're missing here..._

 **Shiro Kiuma:** Yori, you appear to be in thought. What's on your mind?

 **Setsuki Yori:** Huh? Well… I was wondering about Reiko's wounds.

 _Debate Starts_

 **Setsuki Yori Cont'd:** How did Reiko get the bloody wounds on her head and hands?

 **Reiko Ono:** I fuckin' SAID how it happened! Do you got shit in your ears!?

 **Reiko Ono Cont'd:** The bat was strung up to the spinning fan, I got cut a couple of times while trying to get it down!

 **Setsuki Yori:** Oh… right… sorry, I spaced out for a bit...

 **Hana Okamoto:** That's a bunch of nonsense! You got hit fighting Bam! He wouldn't just lay there and be killed!

 **Hana Okamoto:** It would explain why the room was so damaged, and the bookshelf was knocked over! Bam fought back, and you finished him off.

 **Shiro Kiruma:** **A lie like that deserves to be cut to pieces.  
**

 _Debate Stops_

 **Shiro Kiruma Cont'd:** I've inspected Bam Takahashi's body, and he had a pair of handcuffs wrapped behind his back. While there are small bruises on his wrists from attempting to escape, he has no other wounds on his body besides the fatal one. He was killed instantly by the nail bat.

 **Hana Okamoto:** The one Reiko has!  
 **  
Miho Ishii:** We keep going back to that well. Reiko's bat is the murder weapon. Why else would she have it?

 **Akira Kazue:** That isn't the question I have. The real question is… Why was Bam even in the prop room?

 **Miho Ishii:** I don't get it.

 **Akira Kazue:** If he was willingly going to the theater… He would be with us, right?  
 **  
Miho Ishii:** Yeah… Or he would have sit out.

 **Akira Kazue:** But he didn't. If Reiko murdered him, it would have been in the prop room. Why was he there?

 **Hana Okamoto:** We explained that already, ya idiot… He went because of the note!

 **Akira Kazue:** Because of the note? That was 6:30 AM. I'm talking about just before the murder. Why was he in the prop room? We need to figure this out if we want a real culprit.

 **Shiro Kiruma:** Kurotsuki, you've been oddly silent this whole trial. As much as I have enjoyed the quiet, perhaps you have something to say on the subject.

 **Dahlia Kurotsuki:** Ah! Yes, let me see, let me think… _twirls a strand of white hair around her finger_ The note simply said for Ono and the fallen Takahashi to meet at the theater. It is possible that Ono forced him into the prop room.

 **Reiko Ono:** And how the fuck do you do that without a struggle!?

 **Kenji Taisei:** ...Airi. Can you tell everyone the chemical in your lab that had its safety seal broken?

 **Airi Kudo:** Trichloromethane, or Chloroform.

 **Shiro Kiruma:** How curious… Chloroform in your lab? What would the Ultimate Lucky Student need with that?

 **Setsuki Yori:** Yeah, and what's chloroform?

 **Airi Kudo:** It was used by surgeons as an anesthetic, inhaling it dulls your nervous system and causes you to pass out. It's potent enough that in larger doses, it could shut down your kidneys.

 **Airi Kudo Cont'd:** The seal to the chloroform was punctured, despite the fact I haven't ever even considered using any of the chemicals in my lab.

 **Shiro Kiruma:** -Any- of the chemicals?

 **Airi Kudo:** …

 **Miho Ishii:** Why does the Ultimate Lucky Student have a date rape drug?

 **Airi Kudo:** ..Is that really how you want to describe it?

 **Shiro Kiruma:** Answer the question, Kudo. Why is there Chloroform in your lab?

 **Airi Kudo:** …

 **Yukiji Chimon:** It's because she's the Ultimate Spy.

 **Shiro Kiruma:** Is this true, Taisei?

 **Kenji Taisei:** Yeah, it was the first act we saw from the Monokuma Theater, they were in alphabetical order, so Airi Kudo was first.

 **Reiko Ono:** I fucking told you all she was a spy! She probably set up the whole murder so she could split with a hostage.  
 **  
Airi Kudo:** The problem is… I don't remember who I work for. I forgot some things when I came to this school, I remembered I was a spy but… I forgot my goal, I forgot my employers… I don't remember what I was trying to accomplish.

 **Airi Kudo Cont;d:** I know my principals… and that I wouldn't just kill someone selfishly, but… I don't remember anything else, thinking about it just gives me a migraine.

 **Shiro Kiruma:** So, we now know that the culprit had access to Chloroform and a pair of handcuffs. They drugged Takahashi, cuffed him and dragged him to the prop room.

 **Kenji Taisei:** And it would mean that he was dragged to the prop room before any else of us arrived, that was why we didn't see him.

 **Shiro Kiruma:** He had duct tape placed over his mouth to keep us from hearing the screams. It helped that the trap set up in the prop room helped cover the sound of the murder, by the fan tugging the door over and over to make a rattling noise and cover the fighting.

 **Akira Kazue:** Duct tape from… Where, exactly?

 **Shiro Kiruma:** From the prop room, of course.

 **Yukiji Chimon:** But… I don't remember any tape being in there.

 **Shiro Kiruma:** Because I investigated that room, not you.

 **Yukiji Chimon:** No… I slept in the prop room the night before. There wasn't any duct tape.

 **Miho Ishii:** You… slept in the prop room?

 **Yukiji Chimon:** It was comfy… and I was hiding from Dahlia.

 **Dahlia Kurotsuki:** Ah! Yukiji, I'm hurt! Why would you hide from me like that? I would never harm hair on your head!

 **Kenji Taisei:** You were molesting him in the theater! I'd say he has good reason to hide from you!

 **Dahlia Kurotsuki:** How about you shut your rotten fucking mouth, Kenji!?

 **Kenji Taisei:** …

 **Akira Kazue:** …

 **Yukata Watanabe:** What just happened?

 **Dahlia Kurotsuki:** Ah… ehehehehe… my apologies, the tension in this room is getting to me… please, carry on.

 **Akira Kazue:** Right… when we get out of here, you're going in my cell.

 **Haru Yamada:** There will be no diddlin' of others while Officer Kazue's in the house! Absolutely zero diddling!

 **Akira Kazue:** That's Akira Kazue Regulation #4! No sexual harrasment! Going either way!

 **Setsuki Yori:** ...Why is he calling it 'Diddling?'

 **Shiro Kiruma:** ...Getting back on point. If there was no duct tape in the prop room, then where was it?

 **Akira Kazue:** If I remember correctly, when Kenji, Yukata and I were looking over the prompter booth, checking for traps. That's where I last saw it on the table.

 **Miho Ishii:** So, they took the duct tape from the prompter booth to the prop room?

 **Yukata Watanabe:** While dragging Bam's body? Wouldn't Akami see that?

 **Miho Ishii:** Hm… maybe they dumped Bam in the prop room, went to the prompter room and got the duct tape.

 **Kenji Taisei:** No, there's something in the prompter room that wouldn't make that possible. The doorknob was broken off inside the room.

 **Kenji Taisei Cont'd:** I couldn't even get it open when I tried, if they broke the doorknob, they wouldn't be able to head back to the prop room unless they went back through the theater lobby.

 **Shiro Kiruma:** Taisei, we're getting farther and farther away from the site of the murder.

 **Kenji Taisei:** But that's just the thing. Are we sure that the prop room was where the murder happened? There was a carpet on the floor, flipped upside down in the prompter room. When I flipped it over, it had a bloodstain on it as well.

 **Setsuki Yori:** Both rooms had bloodstains on the carpet? Did he get murdered in a wormhole or something!?

 **Airi Kudo:** No, he was definitely killed in one of the rooms.

 **Reiko Ono:** The blood in the prop room had to be mine from when I got fucked up by the bat.

 **Shiro Kiruma:** But we can't confirm or deny that was your blood.

 **Reiko Ono:** What, do you wanna see it now? Give me a knife, I'll bleed all over your pasty ass!

 **Yukata Watanabe:** Please don't.

 **Shiro Kiruma:** I agree with Watanabe, that would prove nothing without proper forensics.

 **Yukiji Chimon:** Kenji? I have a question for you.

 **Kenji Taisei:** Yeah? What's up Yukiji?  
 **  
Yukiji Chimon:** I know I haven't been following the narrative super well, but there's something bothering me. Why did that fire happen?  
 **  
Kenji Taisei:** Well, the fire happened because of a lighter we found.

 **Yukiji Chimon:** No I mean like… -Why- did the fire happen? Why did someone start a fire? Did they want to burn down the theater with us in it…?

 _Kenji is taken aback, taking a step from the podium as his eyes began to widen somewhat._

 **Kenji Taisei:** _To himself_ They wanted us to see the body, and reveal it at a very specific time… When Reiko was in the prop room.

 **Miho Ishii:** What's that Mr. Farmer? Ya gotta project your voice so we can hear it!

 **Kenji Taisei:** I think the fire might have happened, in an attempt to frame Reiko.

 **Hana Okamoto:** Frame Reiko? But she did it!

 **Kenji Taisei:** No, think about it. There's more to it than just that, they set the fire, knowing that it wouldn't be noticed right away. It would give them time to frame Reiko. The body was revealed when the sprinklers went off… And when the culprit had enough time to escape.

 **Akira Kazue:** Sorry, Kenji… I don't follow this line of logic you're following. This is a stretch.

 **Akami Sakiko:** How so? Reiko would've been out of the stage room at the time of the fire.

 **Miho Ishii:** Yeah, but that also means she could've snuck backstage to set the curtains on fire. You didn't have her in your sight the whole time, Akami.

 **Haru Yamada:** Reiko would have had to walk back and forth several times if she wanted to get duct tape, THEN break the doorknob, THEN hide the body, THEN lock herself in the prop room!

 **Yukata Watanabe:** She had the murder weapon, regardless of how improbable it is, that's the only conclusion I can come to.

 **Shiro Kiruma:** And breaking the dooknob would be no issue if she were already armed.

 **Monokuma:** Do I hear infighting? I'm sure I hear infighting! Looks like it's finally time for a Full Scale Debate!

 **Reiko Ono:** The fuck is a Full-Scale Debate?!

 **Airi Kudo:** I assume this is some new element of the trials Monokuma wanted us to discover.

 **Monokuma:** Yup! Usually trials tend to have one outlier who causes a debate and everyone just goes along with the train of thought, they only need to convince a few people. But when it's split almost down the middle… We have to go all out, and fight to change the whole direction of a trial! That's a Full Scale Debate!

 **Monokuma Cont'd:** So, we're gonna see the split of #ReikoFramed vs. #ReikoGuilty! You guys will vote for your team on your podiums and then we'll go right at it with the debate! Choose your side!

 **Setsuki Yori:** What's with the hashtags?

 **Monokuma:** I'm trying to keep up with the kids! Keeping this Killing Game hip! Let's get #ReikoFramed or #ReikoGuilty trending worldwide!

 **Miho Ishii:** I thought I was done with hashtags after my tour in the States...

 _The podiums blinked to life with two buttons, marked #ReikoFramed and #ReikoGuilty. Kenji pressed #ReikoFramed, his panel lighting up with a blue color. Other podiums lit up either blue or red before suddenly moving, throwing everyone off balance briefly as students with match colors were put on the same side. Reiko's podium, left colorless, was set in the center. Kenji looked and saw he, Airi, Akami, Haru and Yukiji were on the same side. On the opposite end was the red team, #ReikoGuilty. Shiro, Akira, Miho, Hana, Setsuki, Yukata and Dahlia._

 **Yukata Watanabe:** So, does joining #ReikoGuilty mean we voted her as the Blackened?

 **Monokuma:** Well, you gotta prove she's guilty of murder first, so maybe… anyway! We've got five for #ReikoFramed and seven for #ReikoGuilty! Let's get this Full Scale Debate rolling!

 _Full Scale Debate Start_

 **Akira Kazue:** I don't get it Kenji, why do you think Reiko was **framed** by someone?

 **Kenji Taisei:** Reiko was **framed** because the body reveal was specifically timed to make her look guilty.

 **Hana Okamoto:** Reiko had the murder **weapon** , that means she must have commited the murder!

 **Akami Sakiko:** We don't actually know if it was the murder **weapon** or not, we're just assuming it is because Reiko's always had her bat.

 **Shiro Kiruma:** Kenji's claims are irrelevant, it doesn't matter if the **prompter room** is tampered with, if we know where and when the murder happened!

 **Haru Yamada:** Kenji's claims have a point! We can't just pretend the **prompter room** is intact!

 **Dahlia Kurotsuki:** The **body reveal** being delayed doesn't mean she was framed, it means she was trying to complicate things!

 **Airi Kudo:** The fire was because they wanted to delay the **body reveal** , and appear with the rest of the students to appear innocent.

 **Yukata Watanabe:** What else could he have been killed with!? There's nothing else in the **theater**!

 **Yukiji Chimon:** Maybe the weapon wasn't in the **theater** … They could have set the trap beforehand.

 **Setsuki Yori:** The weapon was moved out of the theater? Why did **no one** else see it?

 **Kenji Taisei:** **No one** else could have left the theater except for the culprit, or else the Monopads would have exploded!  
 **  
Miho Ishii** : Then who hid the murder weapon, if it wasn't **Reiko**!?

 **Kenji Taisei:** It would need to be someone who left the theater at some point, **Reiko** never left the building.

 **Dahlia Kurotsuki:** How could the **culprit** get the weapon if Reiko was holding the only one in the building?

 **#ReikoFramed: This is our answer!**

 _Full-Scale Debate Stops_

 _The podium lights shut off and the podiums were reshuffled into position._  
 **  
Kenji Taisei: The culprit hid the murder weapon until the murder, then removed it before we could find it**

 **Dahlia Kurotsuki:** That's a bold claim, Taisei… What basis do you have to make that sort of claim?

 **Kenji Taisei:** When Shiro and I checked the stage, I went into the trap room and found a nail under there. The nail was old and had a patina on it. It didn't look like it was the same nails as the ones holding up the stage.

 **Reiko Ono:** Now that I think about it, the nails on the bat I was holding were silver. My nail bat is something I've had a couple of years.

 **Akira Kazue:** Would someone go out of their way to put new nails in your bat? Why were the nails newer on the prop room bat?

 **Setsuki Yori:** Oh man, this is a real puzzler! Looks like it's thinkin' time!

 _Setsuki put her arms into a snowboard pose, making "pshhhwww" sounds once again._

 **Shiro Kiruma:** Are we seriously going to wait for her to get done with this?

 **Kenji Taisei:** I don't know, man… She's 1 for 1 on this so far.

 **Dahlia Kurotsuki:** So are we just going to imagine our way to the solution? That seems a bit convoluted don't you think?

 **Yukiji Chimon:** I think Setsuki's doing her best.

 **Airi Kudo:** Well, we're going to have to find out whether or not th-

 **Setsuki Yori: AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH IGOTIT!  
**  
 **Shiro Kiruma:** Volume! Please!  
 **  
Setsuki Yori:** Someone made a replica nail bat! It was the one hung up in the prop room! The real one was the murder weapon, and they took it! Reiko got left with the fake one!

 **Kenji Taisei:**...Actually that makes a lot of sense. The nail stuck in Bam's eye was headfirst in his eye, the actual point of the nail was sticking out, that's backwards from the bat Reiko found.

 **Yukata Watanabe** : It even has that patina on it that made the nail a different color…

 **Reiko Ono:** I fuckin' knew something was weird with that bat! I've grabbed it from the nail end before, but it didn't cut the shit outta me! That was the wrong bat!

 **Shiro Kiruma:** So now we have a murder weapon we can't find, and no suspect. Where do we go from here?

 **Akira Kazue:** Well… We have one suspect, that I was considering. Do you think you know who that is, Kenji?

 **Setsuki Yori:** Oooh, is it Kenji?  
 **  
Kenji Taisei:** It would have to be someone who would benefit from the murder discovery being delayed… Someone who could use it as their alibi.

 **Shiro Kiuma:** Given the time of the of the fire, that means it would have to be someone whose Theater would be toward the end, as it would mean the fire was timed to prevent it from being seen. Which puts Ono back into the suspect list along with Ishii, Watanabe and Chimon.

 **Reiko Ono:** Goddamnit! Why am I a suspect again?!

 **Miho Ishii:** Wait a minute! By your own logic, you're a suspect too!

 **Shiro Kiruma:** You really think I would be so careless as to commit a murder?

 **Miho Ishii:** Maybe not, but you'd be more than happy to have someone else do it for you!

 _Debate Start_

 **Shiro Kiruma:** The body discovery happened in the final half of the theater.

 **Shiro Kiruma Cont'd:** Monokuma listed the Theaters in alphabetical order. Barring the possibility of an accomplice acting on their behalf, that leaves us with four suspects.

 **Shiro Kiruma Cont'd:** Miho Ishii, Reiko Ono, Yukata Watanabe and Yukiji Chimon.

 **Akira Kazue:** But you can't perfectly time a fire, maybe it was set to go off earlier.

 **Shiro Kiruma:** The smoke began during my theater meaning that the next theater would be Watanabe's or Chimon's.

 **Airi Kudo: I can see through that!**

 _Debate Stop_

 **Airi Kudo:** Shiro, you're running on an assumption of the actual playbill. While you're right about the alphabetical order, there's some differences you didn't account for.

 **Shiro Kiruma:** Differences?

 **Airi Kudo:** Tell me, what do you think the order of the first half of the Theater was?

 **Shiro Kiruma:** You, Kazue, Takahashi, Kurotsuki and Okamoto.

 **Airi Kudo:** While the first to are correct, Hana was third, followed by Miho and, most distressingly, Bam's.

 **Yukata Watanabe:** Bam?

 **Miho Ishii:** Really? That lil pervert went after me?

 **Airi Kudo:** Yes. His real first name is actually Morida, thus meaning his theater was later.

 **Shiro Kiruma:** I see, but Ishii's should've been in the bottom half even with the adjustment, not fourth.

 **Airi Kudo:** I was hoping you'd bring that up, there is one other person whose true name is not what they claim.

 **Setsuki Yori:** Whoa, no way. Who is it?

 **Airi Kudo:** Kenji, you happened to catch their real name. And we've already named all of the first half. So, who is it?

 **Kenji Taisei :** _The person who wasn't named before… the one whose real name I heard._ **That's gotta be it!**

 **Kenji Taisei Cont'd:** Is it… Dahlia?

 **Dahlia Kurotsuki:** Hm? What is this little lie you two are spinning about me?

 **Airi Kudo:** It's not a lie. If you really were Dahlia Kurotsuki, you would've been third.

 **Dahlia Kurotsuki:** Then the ursine fool made a mistake. He is not an infallible deity. He is as capable of folly as the rest of you mortal beings of flesh and-

 **Airi Kudo:** Wakako, this is getting tiring.

 **Dahlia Kurotsuki:** Ahahahaha… _She flipped her hair back dramatically, then held a hand to her chin_ AHHH~ AHAHAHAHAH!  
 **  
Dahlia Kurotsuki Cont'd:** Excuse me~?

 **Airi Kudo:** Struck a nerve, didn't I? How long has it been since you heard someone call you by your real name?

 **Dahlia Kurotsuki:** Your mind games mean nothing, Kudo. That name you said, Wakako Nagase, is as meaningless and fleeting to me as yours, Ono's, Taisei's or Sakiko's.

 **Kenji Taisei:** Wait, Dahlia… what did you say?

 **Dahlia Kurotsuki:** Fuhuhuhuhu~ Come now, Taisei. Has listening to Ono's braying rendered you deaf? Kudo is probably pulling a name from one of her past jobs to try and throw off the case.

 **Airi Kudo:** Fine then. Since you're retreating into your delusions, we'll need to defer to the judge. Well, Monokuma, what was Act 8 of Monokuma Theater?

 **Monokuma:** _putting a paw to his chin_ Hm… Act 8… Act 8…. Ah! Yes! Wakago Nagase!

 **Dahlia Kurotsuki:** Gh! Y-you two have been spun in his web of lies! The bear speaks in riddles and deception! There is no Wakako Nagase! There-

 **Shiro Kiruma:** That is enough, Kurotsuki. You are wasting our time with these diversions. Continue, Monokuma.

 **Monokuma:** It might not have as much effect without my delicately placed props, but here goes! A low budget version of Wakako Nagase's Monokuma Theater!

 **Kenji Taisei:** _Under his breath_ An even lower budget one…

 **Monokuma:** Wakako Nagase is a boring girl who was homeschooled after being bullied! She was raised by a single mother with a drinking problem, who hated her for being born after birthing her gave her a disability.

 **Monokuma Cont'd:** One day, her mom broke a bottle on her face while she was drunk, and she ran away crying, her mom called her a walking abortion, too! All she had to comfort her were her vampire books, she read them over and over to escape the thoughts of suicide in her head!

 **Monokuma Cont'd:** Wakako went back to school after being missing for years on government pay, making absolutely zero money and living off of cup soup, and begging on the street for dough.

 **Monokuma Cont'd:** After almost getting assaulted in an alleyway by a drug addict, Wakako fought him off, and ran out of town to forge a new identity for herself. Dahlia Kurotsuki, The Ultimate Vampiress! To cover up the fact that when she isn't being the Ultimate Vampiress, she's completely worthless~

 **Kenji Taisei:** Holy shit…

 **Akira Kazue:** That's just… oh God…

 **Shiro Kiruma:** Well, that certainly explains a lot about you, Nagase.

 **Yukiji Chimon:** I… don't know what to say...

 **Dahlia Kurotsuki:** _Her refined, English accent begins to falter_ Yukiji… dearest Yukiji, my moonlit prince… just tell me why. Why won't you run away with me already? _Accent fully drops_ Why do you keep acting like you're so fucking stupid? You're the Ultimate Chessmaster. Why the shit do you need to be around these LOSERS!?

 **Yukiji Chimon:** W-Wakako?

 **Dahlia Kurotsuki:** DON'T FUCKING CALL ME THAT!

 _Yukiji nervously flinches from the shouting_  
 **  
Dahlia Kurotsuki:** Don't fucking call me that… Wakako was worthless. This is the only time I've fucking mattered, and then you immediately want to take that away from me, Kenji? Airi? Shiro? Why? Why do you hate me!?

 **Miho Ishii:** N-no! We don't hate you, Wakako! We didn't know-

Dahlia Kurotsuki: _eyes red with tears_ DON'T YOU FUCKING PITY ME! AND STOP CALLING ME THAT! _voice straining_ WAKAKO NAGASE IS DEAD! MY NAME IS DAHLIA KUROTSUKI, THE ULTIMATE VAMPIRESS!

 **Dahlia Kurotsuki Cont'd:** I… I… _tries to force the accent_ I apologize for such an unbecoming outburst. This trial has gone long and has begun to wear on my nerves. Shall we continue?

 **Airi Kudo:** Wakako, you're not fooling anyone here. You don't have to-

 **Dahlia Kurotsuki:** SHUT THE FUCK UP, AIRI!

 **Dahlia Kurotsuki Cont'd:** Now, if you dipshits wanna get back to the case, Yukata's Theater was playing when the fire came up!

 **Yukata Watanabe:** But I wasn't in Theater when the fire went up!

 **Dahlia Kurotsuki:** Ah, but did you and Taisei not come to me in order to investigate the theater? Why, if I recall, the first thing you had asked of me was concerning the fire curtain! You and Taisei must have shared secrets and wanted to escape!

 **Yukata Watanabe** : I.. don't want to remember my secret. I didn't even tell Kenji about it.

 **Monokuma:** Yukata's sister died in a car accident, and he lost a card game tournament that would have raised enough money to save her life! Everybody's secret is comin' out!

 **Yukata Watanabe:** You… didn't have to tell everyone that…

 **Kenji Taisei:** Whoa… Yukata?

 **Yukata Watanabe:** Yeah… I fucked up. I… thought trusting in my deck would help save Shizuka's life. But.. I lost. My pride blinded me, and my sister died because of it.

 **Dahlia Kurotsuki:** And because you didn't want anyone knowing your secret, you killed Bam, trapped in the fire curtain and set the fire! And you had Kenji help you put it all together!

 **Yukiji Chimon:** Dahlia… Stop hurting people.

 **Dahlia Kurotsuki:** Ah, why Yukiji. I am doing nothing more than speaking the truth. You cannot possibly believe these foul, tainted killers!

 **Yukiji Chimon:** No, Kenji and Yukata didn't do it, I was with Kenji the whole time. Of all the people who left the theater… you did.

 **Yukiji Chimon Cont'd** : You left… that was to hide the weapon… wasn't it?

 _Debate Start_

 **Yukiji Chimon Cont'd:** When you took my shirt, you didn't go to the dressing room because you wanted to get out of the theater.

 **Dahlia Kurotsuki:** Yukiji, darling… I left to find a clean shirt for you after I spilled punch on you.

 **Dahlia Kurotsuki Cont'd:** I felt terrible about the accident and the dressing has nothing that would fit you.

 **Yukiji Chimon:** That wasn't an accident. You spilled that punch on purpose.

 **Kenji Taisei: I agree with Yukiji!**

 _Debate Stop_

 **Kenji Taisei:** Yukiji's right. Dahlia spilled the punch when her act came up. She made the biggest distraction possible, so no one would hear her secret.

 **Yukiji Chimon:** It was probably because the fire didn't start yet…

 **Dahlia Kurotsuki:** Come now, you believe I would prepare a simple mistake? It was a slip of the hand.

 **Airi Kudo:** Really now? I don't buy that.

 **Dahlia Kurotsuki:** Oh? Then tell me, Kudo. Why do you not believe what is so plainly obvious.

 **Airi Kudo:** Because part of your Ultimate Vampiress act is having perfect balance and control. Wouldn't admitting that you made a mistake be an admittance that you're human?

 **Dahlia Kurotsuki:** I… b-but! Fuck you!

 **Airi Kudo:** So, it would have to be a calculated action, designed to create a diversion and to give you something else you needed for your plan.

 **Shiro Kiruma:** Hm? Something else?

 **Airi Kudo:** Kenji, you already know what that is, correct?

 **Kenji Taisei:** You mean Yukiji's shirt, right? She took it so she could hide the weapon.

 **Yukiji Chimon:** Uh-huh. I wear big shirts because they're comfy, so it'd be big enough to wrap around Reiko's bat.

 **Dahlia Kurotsuki:** O~hohohohoho! Don't be silly, Yukiji! I took your shirt so I could bring it to the laundry room! After I did that, I went to get your shirt from your dorm room.

 **Miho Ishii:** No you didn't.

 **Dahlia Kurotsuki** : Huh?

 **Miho Ishii:** I saw you in the halls, walking by with some weird thing stained with red. I thought it was some Gangrel cosplay, but it was really the shirt, wasn't it? You took it straight up to the second floor.

 **Dahlia Kurotsuki:** You're a liar! Nothing you said can even be confirmed. Perhaps you're the accomplice, and you're trying to cover someone's lie… or maybe you're just covering for your own lies…

 **Monokuma:** Oh, you mean how STARSTRUCK is funded by the Kuzuryu clan that wiped out Reiko's gang?

 **Reiko Ono:** The fuck?! You're all buddy-buddy with those bastards?!

 **Miho Ishii:** Wh-what? Reiko… I can explain!

 **Reiko Ono:** You better explain you no-necked bitch!

 **Miho Ishii:** Who are you callin' no-necked, you dog-faced gremlin?

 **Akira Kazue:** This isn't the time for this! Dahlia's just trying to distract us! Calm down, please!

 **Reiko Ono:** Fuck you!

 **Miho Ishii:** No, fuck you!  
 **  
Shiro Kiruma: Enough!  
**

 _A silence falls in the room_

 **Shiro Kiruma:** _Adjusts his glasses_ Kazue's right, we are here to investigate Takahashi's murder, not kill each other our secrets. We are reaching the endgame and Nagase is trying to send us off-course.

 **Dahlia Kurotsuki:** I'll cut your fucking tongue off if you call me that again, Shiro!

 **Shiro Kiruma:** You will do no such thing, noted and ignored. Now then, Nagase hid the bat in the trap room and when she commited the murder, she hid it until she could take it to the exit and hide it in the school.

 **Kenji Taisei:** She probably hid in the janitor's closet. That's where we found the bloodstain.

 **Shiro Kiruma:** Yes, but the nails would've loosened if she had used it to break the prompter booth door. There were no nails in the prompter room or closet.

 **Kenji Taisei:** She probably used that broken microphone. Then barred the door with a broom from the janitor's closet because she couldn't lock it while exiting the room into the lobby.

 **Shiro Kiruma:** Yes… it's all coming together… and yet, something is frustrating me.

 **Yukiji Chimon:** What is it?

 **Shiro Kiruma:** The nail bat… the handcuffs… the Chloroform. How did Nagase get these items?

 **Dahlia Kurotsuki: O~hohohohoho!**

 **Dahlia Kurotsuki Cont'd:** Your web of lies is fading! You fucking idiots! Begone from my sight! Shit for brains! I will not fall for human tricks! It's over!

 **Kenji Taisei: We're not giving up!**

 **Kenji Taisei Cont'd:** You got the Chloroform fro Airi's lab! The handcuffs from Akira's lab! You made the nailbat in Emi's lab! There was a hammer and nails on a workbench! You stole the keycards, and had ample time to set up the murder!

 **Dahlia Kurotsuki:** You act like I set up the murder beforehand!? How do you think I could have committed such a grand scheme at once!?

 **Kenji Taisei:** The theater was a second home for you, remember!? You were walking the catwalks when we first saw you there, and you were there for hours!

 **Dahlia Kurotsuki:** And how could I steal the keycards? They cannot leave the lab building and Kudo and Kazue were always using them!

 **Kenji Taisei:** You sleep in your coffin in your lab! You'd have plenty of time to raid their labs at night! That's how you found Emi's keycard in Akira's lab!

 **Dahlia Kurotsuki:** And how did I activate the trap in the prop room, if I never went inside it during the Monokuma theater!?

 **Kenji Taisei:** There was a circuit breaker underneath the trap stage, close to where I found the nail bat! You could have turned it on manually when you had the chance.

 **Dahlia Kurotsuki:** O~hohohohoho! This castle of falsehoods falls apart! There is no proof I ever entered Nakayama's lab! You fucking lose, Kenji!

 _ **Missing Picture of Yukiji**_

 **Kenji Taisei: I've got one shot!**

 **Kenji Taisei Cont'd:** There -is- proof that you entered that lab, Dahlia. The lab had pictures of us. Pictures from the missing year of our lives.

 **Shiro Kiruma:** Wh-what?!

 **Reiko Ono:** You're fucking with us!

 **Akira Kazue:** No, they're real. I've seen them too, back when Monokuma opened up the labs. There were plenty of them scattered around Emi's lab. I put them all in a small drawer so no one could use them as a motive.

 **Kenji Taisei:** But when Emi's keycard went missing, we looked in her lab and found the drawer had been opened. Two photos weren't there. One of Yukiji and Dahlia playing chess in his lab.

 **Yukiji Chimon:** Huh?

 **Kenji Taisei:** And the other… was..

 **Akira Kazue:** The class photo! The one with all of us in it!

 **Dahlia Kurotsuki:** What this this bullshit?! There's no photos! You're just making shit up because you want me to be guilty! Lies, fucking lies!

 **Akira Kazue:** We're not lying!

 **Kenji Taisei:** Well, no. We did. There's really three photos out of the drawer…

 _Kenji reached into his pocket, pulling out a folded photograph. He unfolded it, holding back tears._

 **Kenji Taisei:** This… This was me and Emi. Together. Akira said I could keep it if I didn't go back to her lab.

 **Dahlia Kurotsuki:** Kh-!

 **Shiro Kiruma:** Th-then… if these photos are real…

 **Akira Kazue:** Then Dahlia found the ones with her and Yukiji and kept them so she could prove they were 'meant to be' as it were.

 **Dahlia Kurotsuki:** I-I… I…

 **Kenji Taisei:** **We're putting an end to this! Here's the truth.**

The murder began several days before, when the culprit realized that Monokuma knew her secret. Not wanting to lose her image, she set up a plan, to get them, and their supposed beloved Yukiji out of the academy by framing someone else for murder. They gathered Chloroform from Airi's lab, handcuffs from Akira's lab, and stole the nail bat from Reiko's lab. They forged a new bat in Emi's lab by using it as a reference, and hid the original bat in the trap floor of the stage in the theater, this was the first part of her plan.

The next part was getting her victim. The morning of the murder, the culprit forged a note pretending to be Reiko for Bam, asking him to show up early in the morning near the theater to come meet her, and he complied. That was when they ambushed him. They used a rag soaked in chloroform to knock him out, and moved his body to the prompter booth.

They tied his wrists together with handcuffs, covered his mouth in duct tape, and locked the doors to keep him locked inside. The culprit exited the prompter room, and set their trap in the prop room, to leave the replica bat with Reiko, the one she wanted to frame. They tied a rope to the ceiling fan, then tied it to the nail bat. Then, they tied the other end of the bat to the doorknob.

The culprit could lock the door with the doorknob, but because the tension of the bat was pulling on the doorknob, it wouldn't actually lock until the tension on the lock was relieved. Happy with their plan, they went under the stage, turning off the circuit breaker, but turning the fan speed all the way up to cause a distraction in the movie theater. This was to minimize the time they would be out of the sight of the rest of the students.

We arrived at the theater, and since Bam's Monopad was with him, it stated that he was in the theater as well, despite him being tied up and struggling in the prompter booth. The show started, and we all began to watch as Monokuma listed off secrets. The culprit, using the darkness of the room sneaked into the trap stage by climbing through the orchestra pit and turning on the circuit breaker, to activate the trap in the room..

The culprit quietly snuck up on me, informing me that there was a distracting noise, getting Reiko to investigate it. The culprit then grabbed the bat from underneath the stage, and went back to the prompter room. They quickly smashed the bat into Bam's head, killing him instantly.

Not wanting to leave a blood stain on their clothes, I suspect they dragged the body using the carpet in the prompter room onto the catwalk, that would also reduce the noise of something being dragged along the grates.

The culprit wrapped Bam up in the fire curtain, to try and time the body reveal to the exact moment their name came up during the Monokuma theater, the flammable curtain was set alight by carelessly dropping a lighter near the curtain, and letting the fire spreading do most of the work. They left the weapon in the janitor's closet, to dispose of it later, they also made sure to break the doorknob of the prompters room, catwalk entrance, flip the carpets, and bar the door in hopes of hiding the fact that was where the true murder took place.

By the time the culprit's true name was spoken, the fire wasn't noticeably large yet. Needing a distraction, they intentionally spilled their punch onto Yukiji to grab people's attention, while providing the bonus of signaling everyone in the room that the culprit wasn't going to be in the building, in an attempt to give themselves an alibi.

They took Yukiji's shirt, carried it to the janitor's closet, and wrapped the murder weapon into it, hiding it from view as they disposed the murder weapon. At the same time, Reiko activated their trap, causing Reiko to be the only one holding something that could be used as a murder weapon. By the time the culprit returned, the fire spread, and the body was revealed, hoping that it would take the heat off them by not being in the building!

It was all because you had a dream to escape with Yukiji. Isn't that right, Wakako Nagase, The Ultimate Vampiress!?

 **Wakako Nagase:** Noooo! Don't say that name! I'm Dahlia Kurotsuki! I am the sire of the Dread Captain Blackmoon! I have feasted on the essence of mortals for centuries and will do so until the Earth rots away! Wakako Nagase is nothing! A worthless failure! _voice cracking, on the verge of tears_ I-I'm not Wakako!

 **Kenji Taisei:** Monokuma… We're ready to vote.

 **Wakako Nagase:** No! Wait! Yukiji! You can't let me die like this, right!? Please…. Don't let me die here.

 **Yukiji Chimon:** I… I don't know how.

 **Wakako Nagase:** Please, Yukiji! I love you, does that not matter? Please… I beg of you… save me!

 **Yukiji Chimon:** ...I can't save you. You killed someone, you don't even have a grasp of reality… How could I love someone who hurts the people I care about? How could I love someone who wants to leave the rest of us to die? I can't save you, you can't even save yourself…

 **Wakako Nagase** : B-but! _she scrambles through her dress, pulling out the photo of her and Yukiji._ Ah! Here's the proof! Y-you did love me, Yukiji! You simply forgot!

 **Yukiji Chimon:** Everything's different now. I-I can't forgive you… I'm sorry.

 **Wakako Nagase:** _Freezes in place, then begins to quietly sob, nearly collapsing against her podium._ I just… wanted to feel like… I had something to live for Yukiji… I'm sorry I made this about you...

 **Monokuma:** Did I hear someone say voting time!? I deeeefinitely heard someone say voting time!

 **Monokuma:** Will you correctly identify the blackened? Or will you choose the dreadfully wrong one? Iiiiiiit's VOTING TIME!

 _The list Kenji saw before when he voted last time appeared again on his podium, though with Emi and Bam now crossed out and unselectable. Kenji quietly scrolled, pressing Wakako's face, and hitting the vote button, after a minute, Monokuma spoke again._

 **Monokuma** : Let's see the results before we find out who the blackened is, shall we?

 _Dahlia Kurotsuki: 12 Votes  
No other students received a single vote._

 _Monocoins poured out from the slot machine, marked with three Dahlia faces, giving all but Dahlia a generous pile of coins._

 **Wakako Nagase:** _Crying, red eye contacts falling onto the podium along with her fake fangs, revealing her blue eyes._ I-I just… I wish I knew what made you love me, Yukiji!

 **Yukiji Chimon:** _Sniffles a bit, wiping his eyes on his sleeve_ I… I think it was because I got to know the real you...

 **Wakako Nagase:** H-huh?

 **Yukiji Chimon:** W-well… I was always afraid of you when you'd stalk me, harass me, get all touchy-feely with me. But… If you look at that photo.

 _Wakako inspects the photo_.  
 **  
Yukiji Chimon:** I-in the picture… You had blue eyes. You were… you. I think that was who I was in love with. _He said shakily, wiping his eyes on his sleeve again._ I didn't love Dahlia Kurotsuki. But… but maybe I loved Wakako Nagase.

 **Wakako Nagase:** I-I see… I'm sorry…

 **Monokuma:** Anyone else feeling something in their heart? _Belches_ Oh, nevermind! Just a bit of heartburn! Nothing a couple of antacids couldn't solve.

 **Akira Kazue:** I… I feel like I did something wrong by voting.

 **Shiro Kiruma:** Nagase committed the murder. The only correct answer was to vote against her.

 **Kenji Taisei:** Shiro's right… she… she shouldn't have murdered Bam… being the blackened means we all die if we didn't vote for Wakako.

 **Shiro Kiruma:** Seems Taisei's making sense for once…

 **Yukiji Chimon:** I wished I was dreaming… I don't know how many more of these I can do.

 **Wakako Nagase:** Monokuma… before you punish me.. _she grabbed another photo from her dress. The class photo._ I want to give these away… so we don't lose them. _She turned to Hana._ Hana… I know you hate me for killing Bam. So… I want you to have this as an apology.

 **Hana Okamoto:** Huh? _she takes the photo._ Th-thanks…

 **Wakako Nagase:** Yukiji… I think I'll be happy… If you made it out of here okay. Please… promise me you'll make it out of here. I'll miss you.  
 **  
Yukiji Chimon:**...Wakako…

 _Wakako smiled, tears running down her cheeks as she handed the photo of them to Yukiji._

 **Wakako Nagase:** Smile for me, Yukiji… One last time.

 _Yukiji wiped his eyes into his sleeve and smiled._

 **Monokuma:** Oh, this is un-bear-able! Are all these trials going to be tragic? If this keeps happening I'm gonna throw up! Now then, since you all built a perfect case against her… the blackened, Wakako Nagase, shall receive her punishment!

 **Monokuma Cont'd:** Now then, I've prepared a very special punishment for Wakako Nagase, the Ultimate Vampire! Let's give it everything we've got! IT'S PUNISHMENT TIIIME!

 _A large red button appeared in front of Monokuma, who then struck it with a gavel. The screen changed to show a new message._

 **GAME OVER. Wakako has been found guilty. It's time for the punishment!**


	21. Execution 2

**Execution 2: The Final Death**

Wakako's podium clicked, then began to rise up to the ceiling, a door opening up that took her all the way to the surface of the campus, next to the fountain. The sunset hitting her eyes, so she just casually covered her eyes with her wrist since she was no longer in character. At the sunset stood a figure, wearing a wide brimmed hat, and a long trench coat. Monokuma Van Helsing rode in at dusk atop a fake pony.

Wakako began to run, stumbling in her high heels, forced to kick them off her feet and run through the campus barefoot. Yukiji quietly watched the action on the monitor, with both hands in front of his mouth, clasped over his nose. He wanted to cheer her on to escape, but the look in his teary eyes knew exactly what was going to happen next. All he could do was watch as Wakako scrambled up the first floor stairs, looking for anything to throw onto the floor to slow Monokuma Van Helsing.

Monokuma pulled a small crossbow from his belt, firing a pair of bolas, tying her ankles together, Wakako falling and landing facefirst onto the staircase. She grabbed onto the railing as she began to slide down the stairs, turning and seeing Monokuma waiting at the foot of the stairs. She turned around, her nose began to bleed from hitting her face on the stairs, and crawled from step to step, getting up higher as Monokuma Van Helsing seemed more intent on watching his prey.

Yukiji breathed a sigh of relief as Wakako got to the second floor, hopping away from the steps to give herself enough space to attempt to untie the bolas. However, it was then she noticed blood pouring from her ankles. The bolas had barbs on the cords, cutting into her. The pain of her smashed nose had made the stabbing barbs unnoticeable by comparison. Wakako grabbed onto the cords, barbs digging into her fingers.

Monokuma Van Helsing approached her with a grin on his face, tossing her a ring of garlic at her, which just made her look confused as she held it on one hand, breaking the barbs off and finally standing up to face off against him, despite there being no escape, as shutters began closing off any of the hallways she thought about running down.

Wiping the blood off her upper lip, she charged at Monokuma with all her might, reeling back a hand into a fist to try and punch him, but he just threw his crossbow, loaded with a 3 foot iron bar on it, firing it with a heavy _KA-THUNK._

She stopped her charge, looking down, to see she was impaled through the chest and stomach with the iron bar, blood spraying from the wound and coating her dress, as she slowly collapsed onto her knees in pain. Standing back up, slowly stammering a step at a time, throwing a punch at him, but falling down the entire staircase and ending up on the floor in a pool of her own blood.

"W-Wakako…" Yukiji gently sputtered, before closing his eyes as hard as he could not to see anymore. Monokuma Van Helsing loomed over Wakako, who looked up at him with defiance in her eyes. She struggled to stand as she coughed an uncomfortably large amount of blood onto her chin and chest. She heard the cocking of the crossbow. _KA-THUNK!_ Another iron bar slammed down into her left shoulder. Then another into her right. _KA-THUNK!_

Wakako could only look at the ceiling as she heard another two bars fired. _KA-THUNK! KA-THUNK!_ She felt the bars pierce into her legs, pinning them to the floor _._ Monokuma Van Helsing walked up to her head, looking at Wakako as she gritted her bloodsoaked teeth, defiantly spitting some blood onto his face. He drew the crossbow once more, the iron bar loaded in and fired with a final _KA-THUNK_ as it drove right through Wakako's head, stopping at the floor.

Yukiji had covered his ears, tear-soaked eyes shut tight. That hard slamming of the iron bar echoed through his head, his body shaking as he fell onto the bottom of his podium, shrinking into a ball as the other students stared in shock. Kenji's heart dropped, but the anger he had when he watched Emi's death was just replaced with a hole. A hole filled with an absolute void, like his heart couldn't let him feel.

"Wakako…" Yukiji muttered quietly as the other students slowly filed out of the room in complete silence, wanting to leave as fast as possible. Haru and Hana left, in hopes to forget, Yukata and Shiro left because they wanted to rest. Setsuki left, nearly having to drag herself from how hollow she felt. Kenji quietly tucked his hands in his pockets, and forced himself to the elevator at about the same time Airi got on. Akami and Miho stepped onto the elevator, looking at Yukiji with heavy hearts.

Akira stayed, slowly walking over to Yukiji and gently sat on the floor behind him, crossing her legs over her thighs, waiting patiently for him to turn around after gently tapping his shoulder. Yukiji leaned back to look at her, a pained look on his face, and eyes red with his own tears, when Akira suddenly leaned over to hug him as hard as she could, as he gently began to sob on his shoulder. There were no word shared between them as the lights began to shut off in the courtroom, but there didn't need to be. They hugged, they hugged for what nearly felt like an hour as Akira gently guided him back to the elevator so they can go up together, despite how soaked with Yukiji's tears Akira's police uniform was, she didn't mind him reaching out to hold onto her hand.

Dinner that night had begun in silence until Akira and Yukiji had arrived. Kenji was the first to get up, walking over to them. "Yukiji, I'm really sorry you had to see that. I know what you're going through, so if you ever need someone to talk to…" he said, Yukiji simply nodding.

"I think… you should just get some sleep, Yukiji." Akira admitted, feeling Yukiji squeeze her hand before gently letting go of it. He walked off for the dorms. Akira sighed, shrugging off the weight of all that's happened, and just tilting her head back as she stared at the ceiling. 

Akira felt ragged, like the after effects of a tidal wave hit and she's just assessing the damage, knowing that there's going to be a lot more work and stress ahead of her. It was over, for now… But there was going to be more murder, more shouting, more accusations… she was at a crossroads, and wasn't sure what she could do to stop it.

Resigning herself to this, Akira decided to just go to bed instead of talking to the others.

 **CHAPTER 2 END  
**

**STUDENTS REMAINING: 12**


	22. Chapter 3: Daily Life 1

Chapter 3: Hula-Hula Monokuma Daily Life 1

 _Ding dong, Bing bong._

"Gooooood morning students! It's finally morning, and the day I'm always excited about, time to unlock a new area! Meet at the dining room for some breakfast, and let's get crackin' shall we?" Monokuma announced, which made Kenji wake up and feeling the giant headache he had from the night before. He forgot to have dinner, and didn't even have time to get anything to drink before he went to sleep.

He gently stretched, getting out of his room to see students slowly filing down into the dining room, Kenji promptly followed suit, heading down to the dining room, pushing the doors open to check the atmosphere. The mood was dour from last night's trial, but to be honest, he was also relieved it was finished, despite how badly it ended. Maybe they could work together on escaping now. Start bringing the fight to Monokuma rather than each other. The thing Kenji was really worried about was how Yukiji was doing. It was true no one else was attached to her, but the truth still felt pretty heavy for someone as innocent as Yukiji to handle.

He made his way to Akira's table to check on Yukiji. "Morning, Yukiji. How are you?" Kenji asked, Yukiji looking up at him, half-awake. Yukiji just looked up at Kenji, completely sullen as he tried to talk.

"I'm… I'm here." Yukiji stated, as the silence began to fill the room again, before the doors slammed open, and Monokuma appeared in front of them.

"AAAAAAALLOOOHA!" Monokuma shouted, holding a surfboard over his head. "Grab your boogie board, and don't throw up after drinking 3 pina coladas! It's a luau, baby!" he exclaimed, everyone staring at him in confusion.

"What in the fuck are you talking about?" Reiko asked, glaring at Monokuma in bewilderment and annoyance.

"Aloha is hello and goodbye, Reiko! When I said luau, I mean luau! Do you know how bored I've been watching you guys?" Monokuma complained, tucking the surfboard underneath his arm.

"You're less Hawaii 5-O and more Blue Hawaii! You guys suck! You sit around, mope and mope and mope! I can't stand you guys." he said, miming rubbing tears from his eyes.

"Our friends died, you asshat." Kenji spat out.

"This isn't even despair, it's _BORING._ Your personalities all suck, like… if this were a movie cast, I would scrap the movie, you're like a wildlife documentary, not an action movie! " Monokuma continued to gripe. "Soooo, I've decided to unlock a few new buildings! One is the campus hospital and the other… is the pool!" he announced.

"...Wouldn't a pool be better suited for a BBQ?" Setsuki asked, but Monokuma quickly shushed her.

"I already got all the luau stuff, you are NOT stopping me from making this decision. I'm the Dean of Enoshima University and if Dean Monokuma wants a luau, then we're having a luau!" Monokuma said.

"Is this one of your stupid motives? Every time you bring one up, another murder happens… We're not going to participate, Monokuma." Kenji complained to him, but Monokuma just sighed.

"Man, you're a broken record. You said the EXACT same thing when I opened the Theater. But guess what!?" Monokuma shouted, pointing at Kenji in defiance.

"Uhh.. what?" Setsuki asked.

"You guys are so mopey, so lame, soooo boring… the killing game is suspended!" He announced, getting gasps of shock from the crowd of slowly dwindling students.

"Wh-what?! Suspended?!" Akira said, eyes wide.

"This is gonna be a straight up party, no murders! No motives! This has the goal of making you guys STOP. BEING. BORING!" Monokuma announced, stomping his foot on every emphasis.

"This has to be a trap… You can't flip on a dime like that to stop the killing game." Airi complained, but Monokuma just clenched his fist and growled.

"Don't you ninnies understand!? Despair is about CONTRAST. You need to know what being happy feels like to know how deep into despair you've fallen. And every one of ya won't shut up about how SAD everything is! Even Yukiji's sad, and that's weird because he's pretty much like a lost puppy in human form!"

"Hey…" Yukiji said softly.

"So, we're gonna have ourselves a good time! There will be drinks! Music! Those weird guys in grass skirts who spin sticks that are on fire! And maybe even a standup routine by yours truly~" He said with a goofy smile on his face.

"It'll be in 2 days. No murders until after the luau, got it!?" He said, drawing his claws out with his red eye glowing.

"By the way, participation isn't mandatory, I'll just think you're lame if you decide to no-show." Monokuma said before vanishing. The mood did change after this announcement. The Killing Game was suspended until after Monokuma's luau, plus they now had two new buildings. Discussion had broken out after a brief silence.

"I don't like the sound of this whole luau thing. Monokuma's up to something…" Kenji said, Yukata nodding in agreement.

"Yeah, last time he unlocked a place, he made a motive out of it. He's probably got some sort of poison he's gonna spring on us the second we check the hospital." Yukata said.

"Sounds like you two are already looking to check out the new buildings. Well, count me in this time!" Haru said. "I feel like I let you guys down when we checked the theater, so I wanna make it up to ya!" he said, Kiko barking in agreement.

"Thanks, Haru. We'll probably check out the hospital first. Knowing Monokuma, he'll probably tell us we can't go to the pool until the luau." Kenji said.

"Well, we won't figure out for a while. Let's just finish breakfast and then we'll get going." Yukata said, Hana walking off from Setsuki's table to join them. As she sat down, Kenji noticed that she was wearing a pair of sunglasses.

"You guys heading to the pool?" she asked, getting nods in response.

"Well, kind of. We're going to the hospital to check it out. The pool might be locked off for the next three days. You want to go too, Hana?" Kenji asked, softly sipping a cup of Panta as Hana nodded, sliding her sunglasses down to cover her eyes.

"I admit… I felt like I was no help that last class trial. I doubted you every step of the way because I didn't understand the layout of the building. I want to see if I can fix that by peeping this campus out so I know it like the back of my hand!" She said, pumping her fist with determination.

Kenji couldn't help but put a soft smile on his face, he was glad someone was motivated in this University.

"I actually had a question, Kenji." Hana asked, Kenji was curious… she didn't really come to anyone to ask questions, so Kenji decided to sate her curiosity.

"What did you want to ask, Hana?" Kenji asked, but Hana gently began to stroke her chin as she tried to word her question.

"Well… Monokuma said we were trapped in this school. Have we explored the edges of the campus? Like… Exactly what's stopping us from leaving the campus?" Hana asked, Kenji dropping his fork as the question began to sink in.

"I actually… never considered that. I was so focused on the current situation, I didn't think about how to leave." Kenji said. He finished his drink, setting it on the table as he leaned forward to talk in a hushed tone.

"How about this? While they go explore the new buildings, we'll check out the edges of the campus just to see what's going on over there. Then, we'll just meet up with the others. How bout it?" Kenji offered, Hana getting a subtle smile on her face.

"Yeh. Let's do it." Hana said, putting her palm down on the table.. Without any prodding, Yukata put his hand atop of hers, followed by Haru. Kenji smiled as he put his hand on top. This was what he wanted to see after all the pain they had gone through these past few days. They were gonna find a way out of here. They were going to escape Enoshima University. Kiko walked over and placed her paw onto their hands, letting out a happy bark.

"Yeah! That's the spirit, Kiko!" Kenji said as the group broke out in laughter, pulling their hands away. They finished up their breakfast and left the main building, heading down the path and to the Monokuma fountain. They all threw in a Monocoin, Kiko taking one in her mouth and dropping it in. The Monokuma fountain rumbled for over a minute before it opened its mouth, spitting out a bottle of water, another bag of gummies, some beef jerky, a pair of socks and a pair of groucho glasses. Kiko jumped into the fountain, fishing out the prizes and throwing them to them. Haru grabbed the groucho glasses, Hana got the water bottle, Yukata got the gummies again and Kenji got the socks, which had been soaked by the fountain, Kenji just took a deep breath while trying to wring the wet pair of socks off.

"...Why do I bother with putting one Monocoin in?" Kenji asked as Kiko climbed out, shaking out the water as she headed off with jerky bag clenched in her teeth.

"Hah! Looks like Kiko was just getting what she wanted!" Haru said, putting on the groucho glasses, and following her. "C'mon, Yukata! We got a pool to check out!" he shouted, Yukata following him along the left path. Kenji and Hana headed north from the fountain, going off the paved roads and through the grass. They stopped to let the mowing Monokumas pass by and kept up their walk. They stopped as the freshly-cut grass of the grounds gave way to thick growth, trees covered in vines, and distant buildings with moss.

"Whoa… what happened?" Hana asked, Kenji slowly walking toward the growth. He was barely an inch from the growth when a violent surge of electricity coursed through his whole body. Kenji was launched several feet away, hitting the ground hard. "Holy crap! Kenji!" Hana said, running over to him.

"Ow… what the hell was that?!" Kenji exclaimed in shock as she struggled to get back up. Hana put a hand on her shoulder, helping him back up.

"You've finally encountered the Monokuma Brand Environmental Protection Device! Trademark." Monokuma said as he appeared in front of them.

"Environmental Protection Device?" Kenji said, trying to shake of the stinging in his body.

"Why yes, Environmental Protection Device! Trademark. It's a large circular dome shaped barrier around Enoshima University. It's an electromagnetic barrier designed to keep out radiation and harmful biosignatures, but allow wind, rain, and cute birdies through unharmed! It's the thing that keeps you safe in the University, and all the bad stuff out! Patent pending!" Monokuma said, jabbing at Kenji with his paw.

"Radiation? What do you mean, radiation?" Hana asked.

"Y'know… Radiation radiation. What else would I be talking about, dummies!? It's why you locked yourselves in this school with me! That, and I really wanted that patent. I decided to go the extra mile, so it blocks radiation." Monokuma explained, Kenji and Hana looking up at the land beyond the barrier.

"It's… it's all radiated? How?" Kenji asked. He had no memory of any sort of nuclear war or power plant failure, so it had to have happened in the missing year. But what could've happened in that missing year?

"Well I'm not gonna explain a darn thing, but I will tell you this! You're safe in this university, and once you graduate, I'll take you to a place without radiation!" Monokuma announced. "But don't try to run through the barrier. Even if you get through the over 9000 gigavolts hitting you all at once, you'd probably just die of radiation poisoning in an hour! It's a scary world out there, but don't worry, Dean Monokuma's gonna take good care of you!" he said, letting out a wild laugh before leaping into the barrier.

Kenji and Hana watched in confusion as Monokuma was hit with blasts of high voltage. "Danger! D-d-danger! High voltage!" he shouted, body vibrating rapidly before finally exploding. Kenji shielded his face, but instinctively dove in front of Hana, the heat nearly seared his face and hands, making them sting with a burning sensation.

"Kenji! You didn't have to do that!" Hana warned, clearly upset by Kenji's actions.

"I don't know why I just did that! I jus-" Kenji was cut off by Hana's surprised gasp.

"Wh-what?! Did he just-" Hana said before Monokuma popped up again.

"That was fun! See now, that's what we need around this school! We need some energy!" Monokuma exclaimed.

"Wait! Y-you just died! How are you-" Kenji said, Monokuma cackling once more.

"You really thought I only had one body? Of course not! I'm a super durable mascot, sure, but there's always a chance one of you will spill your juice in my circuits and make me fizzle out! So I got plenty of backups! Always make a backup whenever you're planning on doing something, it's the programmers code of honor!" Monokuma said.

Kenji, clearly gritting his teeth from the pain of the minor burns on his hands, clenched his fists. "Hey now! Don't go hurting yourself! You oughta head to the infirmary and get those burns treated! That's looking to be about first degree! Puhuhuhuhu~ Now get to the hospital before I go around injuring people!" Monokuma said before leaving for real.

"He's right, Kenji! Your arms are all sorts of messed up! We gotta get those treated!" Hana said, running back for the campus, Kenji following after her.

"They're fine, they just… hurt a little bit." Kenji complained, but Hana looked back at him with a frown.

"My coach wouldn't hear it. He always told me to rest as soon as a minor injury happens. You don't wanna aggravate it!" She said, scolding Kenji with a finger.

"But it's a burn. That'll heal by itself." Kenji shot back, but Hana just glowered at him.

"Y'know who doesn't get their injuries treated? LOSERS! Don't be a loser, Kenji! Heal yo' ass!" she shouted, Kenji yelping in surprise.

"Okay, okay! I won't be a loser! You're immensely stubborn..." Kenji said, Hana sighing in relief and leading Kenji to the hospital. They made their way there, Hana looking for something to treat the burns.

They walked past the lobby, where Airi and Akira were talking, and hung a right down the hall to the first floor's nurse office. "I know, we need some ice water." Kenji mentioned, but Hana looked at him and frowned.

"Ice water will damage it more. We need a wet cloth, like… slightly colder than room temperature." She said, grabbing a clean cloth and running it under the sink water, before heading back over to wrap Kenji's wrists in the wet cloth.

"After this cools it for a bit, I guess…. We'll need some lotion. So your skin doesn't dry out and hurt." Hana said, her short frame scampering through drawers as it felt like he was getting a physical.

"How do you know all this stuff?" Kenji asked, Hana grabbing an aloe lotion and setting it on the small end table beside him.

"Injuries happen all the time when I'm playing… Sometimes we'll treat players as fast as we can to see if they can finish the game. Kind of like when a boxer gets his cuts treated… It's just enough for them to finish the game, then we take them to a real physician." Hana explained, Kenji nodding softly.

"Do you.. typically do the triage?" He asked, Hana shaking her head.

"No I just… remember a lot of things from back when I was in school. We also didn't have to treat burns on the court." she said, chuckling a bit. "Well. unless you get a friction burn. Works about the same, though it's not as severe. Now, this is gonna sting a bit, but it'll soothe afterward." Hana explained as she applied lotion to the buns.

Kenji grit his teeth, before releasing a sigh. "Do you remember the worst injury you've ever gotten?" He asked, trying to distract himself from the stinging of the lotion.

Hana looked away, before looking back at him, gently rubbing lotion into his hand with her thumbs. "It was my first inter-high. Thanks to my skills as a point guard, we got to the semi-finals against a pretty big tokyo high school. Their center was this huge lady named Saiyako, she was like… 6'5 or something. She was pretty good too. All of our team members were screened, so I had to try and get some points by being the center, instead of the point guard." Hana explained, though Kenji wasn't sure what the details of basketball were, he got the jist of it.

"It was her vs me, we had a showdown. I finally got past her after a few tries, so I jumped as high as I can. Girls don't typically dunk because of their height difference compared to the boys, but I had the ups to do it. I got the point, but she shoulder blocked me and when I came back down… My leg snapped in half." Hana explained, Kenji cringing softly when she mentioned it.

"I had to sit out the rest of the year and miss my training… And I was benched for half of the next season, until the second inter-high started." Hana explained, lifting her pants up a bit to reveal a long, rather grotesque scar on her calf, making Kenji cover his mouth.

"Wow… That's… pretty nasty, Hana." Kenji said, Hana nodding and pushing the shades back up her nose and letting her pants leg drop back down.

"You think it looks bad? Imagine how it felt. Being benched that long would've sucked if it weren't for… Bam…" Hana said, looking away from Kenji.

"Were you in the same school as Bam? I don't remember any of you guys from my school days…" Kenji said, looking away from her.

"I think he told you that one time. We've been friends since middle school. I was so shy, but… he was cool and energetic, but only wanted to take the spotlight when he was commentating. He gave me confidence, y'know? It's one thing to play basketball, it's another to have someone talking about how awesome you are while you play basketball." Hana said, Kenji was surprised to hear her admit to being shy, given how she was one of the louder students around, though Hana continued.

"My secret… when I hurt someone on my team? Bam vouched for me as a witness, told them it was the heat of the moment and not premeditated. Him and my mom helped me not get expelled from school. They just told me to sit out the season instead. He probably already knew before the Theater came up." she admitted.

"Did… did you know his?" Kenji asked, feeling horrible and awkward for asking that. Hana narrowed her gaze, scrunching her face a bit.

"No… And I don't care." Hana admitted, making Kenji surprised. "If he's a good person… and whatever he does in his spare time doesn't have any victims… I think what he did was fine. He was still the person I respected this whole time. If he did have victims though… I wouldn't know how to feel about it. So I'm just going to assume he wasn't that underhanded. Besides, I didn't see any of the other students' panties when I raided his dorm, so… I don't think he was like that."

"Oh yeah, you did go into his dorm… I was wondering about the sunglasses. They didn't look like they fit." Kenji said.

"Yeah, they're a bit loose, but I wanted something to remember him by. He told me the sunglasses was so he could avoid eye contact. Other people made him nervous. If he looked you in the eyes, it meant he liked you." Hana explained, wiping smudges off the lenses with a nearby cloth. She went to find bandages to finish Kenji up.

"Do you know how long I have to wear the bandages?" Kenji asked her, Hana put a pair of scissors in her mouth and began to wrap both his hands.

"Probably a few days… If you take them off before that, you'll probably get blisters on your hands. You don't want those." She said, voice slightly muffled from holding scissors in her mouth. Once they were wrapped, the took the scissors, and cut the bandage to length. "Should we tell anyone what we found?" Hana asked suddenly.

"That's the problem I'm having… I don't know how people will handle that. I thought the secrets motive wasn't a big deal, so I gambled on it… and I lost. Wakako murdered someone because I was so brazen. I feel like we should play it safe, I just… I don't want any more murders. The class trials are agonizing." Kenji said, heart heavy as the images of the dead flashed through him. Finding Rio in the shower, head smashed with a box of wrenches. Emi, nailed to a door and sliced in half. Bam, head cracked with a bat, nail stuck in his eyes. And now Wakako, impaled over and over again.

"Yeah… people would probably start running for the barrier…" Hana added, but Kenji seemed lost in thought.

"The thing that runs in my head over and over is… What would someone get out of this? Why does Monokuma care so much about making us kill each other. What's the point? If you wanted people to die, you'd start a war… Not just keep a bunch of people who barely know each other in a school." he mused, gingerly placing a wrapped hand around his chin.

"Look at you two! Waxin' philosophical like two regular ol' college students." Monokuma announced, leaning over the frame of the door and staring at the two of them.

"...Are you gotta blow up again!?" Kenji said, diving behind a table for cover.

"I don't blow up my own property! What am I, an idiot?" Monokuma joked, letting out a low chuckle. "Now then, you had a question for moi?" Monokuma asked. Kenji was about to insult him, but decided against it.

"What's the point of doing all this? Why protect us, if you're going to put us in a killing game. If you want to watch people die, wouldn't you just watch the news?" Kenji asked.

"Puhuhuhu~ Oh, Kenji. You are just full of surprises. I can't imagine how one kid can be so dumb. Why do I do this? For despair, of course!" He said, pumping his fist for despair.

"...What do you mean, 'despair?'" Kenji asked, Monokuma stroking his chin.

"Is this one of them psychology techniques? Ya keep asking me why, and I keep answering? Guess I'll go for my Raison D'etre." Monokuma announced, before clearing his throat.

"Only having 16 participants in the killing game makes it personal. War has a lot of death, and the news has a lot of corruption… But what's worse than being betrayed by the people you spend time with? You try your best to care, you say 'no more murders' and yet… they keep happening. They don't stop, and you have to slowly watch your allies dwindle as you wonder what's even sane anymore. Surrounded by people, but alone. That's despair, it's what I want you to feel. I want you to feel like you're alone, and have nothing you can trust or understand. Is that enough jargon for you, Taisei?" he asked, drawing himself close to Kenji, then decided to spin on his foot and do a brief dance.

"Something about you makes me angry, Kenji. It cuts into my fun loving, child friendly persona! Stop making me do these things to you, Kenji!" Monokuma said, wagging a finger at Kenji before bopping him on the head with a paper fan, then heading off without another word.

"Not sure a burn ward can help with that, Kenji…" Hana joked casually, making Kenji grumble to himself. He got up from the bed and went for the door, which opened to Yukata walking in.

"I thought I heard someone in here. Hey, Hana. Hey… Kenji, what happened to your arms?!" Yukata said.

"Monokuma blew up at me… literally this time." Kenji said with a weak chuckle.

"What, he blew up? Did we do it? Did we get him!?" Yukata said, a twinkle in his eye.

"No… he has copies. Not sure how many, but if he can just… blow himself up like that, I assume he has more than a couple." Kenji said.

"That sucks… so, guess you got to see the hospital, then." Yukata said.

"Not all of it. We got here while ago. Maybe you could show us around, see what you found." Kenji replied, Yukata nodding in response.

"You guys go on ahead. I'm gonna go check out the pool. I'll catch up with you late." Hana said, walking past them. Kenji and Yukata left the room, heading off to explore the rest of the hospital.


	23. Chapter 3: Daily Life 2

Chapter 3: Hula Hula, Monokuma Daily Life 2

Kenji met up with Yukata and joined the ongoing tour of the hospital together. Though the rooms of the hospital were fairly standard. There were intensive care units full of top of the line medical supplies. As they walked through, Kenji looked through the door windows to find rooms with freshly-made beds, nightstands and complex biotelemetry machines like heart monitors and oxygen analyzers. The rooms smelled sterile, but the smell of faint chemicals and plastics nearly burned Kenji's nose as he passed by them.

Tucked into the corners of the ICU was a small, windowless door. Kenji approached it and gently pushed the door open. There was a small bunk bed, with a coffee machine and a telephone sitting on the nightstand. There were no windows, so the room was just lit with a dimly lit light bulb. He found a similar hole in the wall on the other side of the room, he pushed that one open, and it went to another ICU adjacent to it. "Looks like an on-call room. Nurses use these rooms to sleep… Because of the rooms position, I guess it lets the nurses really quickly run to patients without taking the hallway." Kenji said.

"Do you think Monokuma converted this place from the original college? Or did he like… build it?" Yukata asked, getting a shrug from Kenji.

"At this point, I don't really know what's real, man. This place seems to be fine, though. ...are any of us even qualified for intensive care?" Kenji asked, Yukata began to think.

"Maybe… Akira? Do you think she knows CPR or something? ...How about Setsuki? I bet she breaks her legs all the time." Yukata mentioned, but Kenji just tucked his hands into his pockets, kicking some dirt into the air with his foot.

"No offense to her, but… I ain't letting Setsuki treat any of my injuries. She'd probably try to force feed me Blue Ram or something." Kenji replied, getting a chuckle out of Yukata. They left the ICU, then went down the hall, just past the stairs to the mess hall, which looked somewhat like a cheap cafeteria.

"I have bad memories about this place." Kenji said, Yukata was confused, putting a hand on his shoulder.

"What's wrong, man? You can tell me." Yukata replied with a caring smile.

"When I interned at my local hospital, I had lunch in a cafeteria like this. The prices they charged… 400 yen for a single slice of pizza. 350 yen for a soda… My pocket book cried, and my mom kept thinking I was spending my money on drugs. But she was wrong… It was all expensive, poor quality hospital food…" Kenji said, Yukata snickering at this.

"Hey, shut up! It's not funny! I wanted to buy a moped that year! I couldn't friggin do it because of stupid cafeteria prices! That was a real problem, Yukata!" Kenji shouted, Yukata laughing as they left the mess hall behind. The only thing on the first floor past the reception, ICUs and the mess hall was a spiral staircase leading up to the second floor of the hospital. A sign showing that the Lab was to the left and the patient bedrooms were to the right. They checked the patient bedrooms; seeing a bed with curtains, pans set down on the nightstands and small mounted televisions on the walls. Everything had been neatly organized, the whole hospital had a sense of being newly opened in comparison to their labs or the theater.

Next was the hospital Lab. They walked in to find large cabinets with glass windows. Inside the cabinets were bottles of powder and various phials, testing tubes, and hot plates to mix chemicals and test them in controlled circumstances. "Huh, looks like it's a chem lab. You think Airi would like it here?" Yukata asked.

"And what is that supposed to mean?" came a voice from the doorway, the two turned to see Airi leaning against the open door, chin rested in her thumb and pointer finger, eyebrow cocked.

 **Airi Kudo. Ultimate Spy.**

"Ack! Uh… I mean, you've got a bunch of chemicals in your lab, right? I-I thought…" Yukata stammered out as Airi shook her head.

"Yeah, I use chemicals, but I'm not the Ultimate Chemist or something. I just use what I need for a job. And most of what I have is supplied to me, not stuff I made from scratch." she said. "So, what brings you two here? And what happened to your hands, Kenji?" Airi asked.

"Monokuma exploded. Before you start thinking we're free, he's got back-ups. I was shielding Hana from the blast and… well, my hands got fucked." Kenji explained.

"It looks like you might have over bandaged. If you were badly hurt, you would be bedridden. You're lucky to have not been hit by any shrapnel either. Perhaps you're the real Ultimate Lucky Student here." Airi observed with a chuckle.

"...I don't know if not dying is a skill, Airi." Kenji said. "So, what's it like? Being the Ultimate Spy?" he asked.

"Well, it's not tuxedos and watered-down martinis. It's more about wearing a disguise that fits where you're going, gathering up information and getting out before anyone spots you. Espionage." Ari explained. "I'm like a chameleon, blending in when needed, and taking all the information I need, while leaving it untouched for someone not trained to spot my actions. It's about subtlety." she said, speaking with a slight French accent.

"Oh, cool! What kind of missions have you done?" Yukata asked. Airi's calm demeanour suddenly dropped, her eyes darkening as she stepped closer to Yukata, glaring daggers at him.

"That information is classified. If you learned any of my past missions, it would be the last thing you would know before I put a garrote wire around your wiry little neck." she said coldly, Yukata backing away and letting out a panicked yelp. Airi's dark expression shifted just as quickly to an amused smirk. "Don't worry, Yukata. I won't kill you. I was just messing with you." she said reassuringly.

Kenji watched all this in awe. "Wow… I really thought you were gonna kill him…" he said.

"No, I'm not here to kill anyone. Believe it or not, 'm on your side." Airi responded, thought Kenji wasn't sure about that. After all, Airi doesn't remember who she worked for and she wasn't in any of the pictures in Emi's lab.

"Hey, Airi. You ever figure out who you work for?" Kenji asked, Airi sighing and shaking her head.

"No, and if I'm being honest, that worries me a lot. Everyone's memories were wiped, but you were all here for over a year before me. If I still remembered my employers, I'd have a better idea of why I'm here." she said, crossing her arms and looking at the floor in thought.

"Maybe you worked for the government? Like, to try and investigate Monokuma?" Kenji suggested, getting a weak laugh from Airi.

"If that was the case, Shiro probably wouldn't be his usual stuck-up self with me." she said.

"Fat chance of that." Yukata said.

"While he doesn't talk well of a lot of us, Shiro probably does respect those who work directly for the government. If I was a government agent, you think he would still be calling me Kudo?" she said, Kenj and Yukata turning and shrugging. They couldn't really argue her on that.

"I checked my body for marks, brands, symbols… typically private espionage and military companies brandish their workers with markings to keep track of them, but my body's clean. I don't have any symbols. I'm not GRU, FBI, MI-6, or part of the Japanese force, or Fenrir, or any other group I can think of." Airi said.

"What about a private contractor?" Yukata asked.

"They would've left some form of contact info, then. And even if they did, Monokuma's probably got ways to shut down communication. You two haven't noticed that not a single building we've unlocked has a working phone?" Airi shot back. It hit Kenji that there hadn't been a single phone on the grounds.

"I'm pretty sure there's no wi-fi either. It's probably a VPN only Monokuma has access to, that's why our Monopads update with information." Airi said. "Anyway, we'll want to be careful around this room. While my lab is off limits, this lab would make for an easy place for someone to gather poisons. It'd be best if we stay away from it."

"Yeah. I think we got everything we need covered here. You wanna check out the pool, Yukata?" Kenji asked. Yukata nodded with enthusiasm, as Airi calmly crossed her arms.

"I guess I'll take part in this. I have nothing else to do anyway." Airi added, calmly following Kenji and Yukata as they slowly went back down the stairs, out the entrance, and towards the pool facility. While the hospital was somewhat large, the pool facility was extremely wide and long, but low to the ground. A massive cardboard cutout of a Monokuma stuck headfirst in a duck floatie stuck in the water of the pool framed the single wooden door to the building.

"I would comment on his lack of style, but I feel like we've done that several times already…" Yukata mentioned, Kenji giving a soft sigh before walking into the pool facility to get a better look at it.

At the front was a registration room, with a lifeguard Monokuma with sunscreen under his eyes, and a visor hat was signing papers, before hitting a bell occasionally. Not loud enough to get on Kenji's nerves… yet. There were several chairs seated in the room, along with a clock, displaying no actual time on it. There were three doorways in the lobby, one said 'Pool/Spa' and underneath it 'Showers'. The other two doors were locker rooms, one male, and one female. Each one had its door shaded to match the gender.

The opposite wall had another vending machine, and a strange capsule machine called the MonoMono Bikini Ma-Cheen, in those exact words.

"You know, it's weird. Monokuma has all these machines meant to take all our Monocoins. The vending machines, the MonoMono Machine, the fountain… this… but isn't he the one who gives us the Monocoins anyway?" Yukata pondered.

"I guess you could say it's… a Monopoly!" Monokuma said, appearing before them. "Hrm… on second thought, that pun doesn't really work… I think I'll need to go back to the drawing board on that one…" he muttered before vanishing.

"I thought Monokonomy might be better." Yukata commented, but Kenji just sighed.

"Don't give him ammo, Yukata." he said as he checked the sign next to the Bikini Ma-Cheen.

 _Here at Enoshima University, we believe in good, wholesome fun. Pools are great, but you can't go swimming without proper swimwear and a shower. The MonoMono Bikini Ma-Cheen is here to help cover your shame with your swimwear from when you came to this University, but for added fun, you've gotta get them for a price! Every five Monocoins gets you a random student's trunks or bikinis. Will you get the right trunks or the dreadfully wrong ones? Give it everything you got! IIIIIT'S BIKINI TIME!_

Kenji felt a familiar twitch in his eye as he read the rules. "This… is the stupidest thing I have ever read. Ever. Something in me just died reading that." he said as he fished out five Monocoins, putting them in and turning the dial. Out popped the capsule, Kenji opening it up and getting a leopard print, very thin fabric pair of girl's swim bikini. A small thong, with rather un-modest bikini top to go with it. Kenji gasped, dropping it on the floor.

"I AM NOT A PERVERT! IT IS LIES!" Kenji shouted at… whoever was judging him, he knew who it was, despite them not being there. His face was burning bright red as he backed away from the thong.

"Ya just got the wrong pair. No one's judging you, bro. " Yukata said reassuringly.

"SOMEONE IS JUDGING ME! I'M NOT A PANTY-SNIFFING WEIRDO!" Kenji shouted, deeply embarrassed.

"Just… don't wear it in front of me, okay?" Yukata joked as he put in his Monocoins, and out came a black piece of latex. He unfolded it, revealing it to a speedo.

"OH HELL NO!" Yukata screamed out, dropping it next to Kenji's new thong.

"OH NOW IT'S NOT OKAY!? DAMN IT, YUKATA!" Kenji shouted back.

"YOU SEE HOW TIGHT THAT SPEEDO IS!? I'LL NEVER HAVE KIDS!" Yukata shouted, the two butting heads.

"Who the fuck's yelling?" Reiko asked, scratching the back of her head as she walked out wearing a simple, but modest bikini, but keeping her officer's cap on her head.

"Oh, it's Reiko." Airi said as she went to try her hand at the Bikini Ma-Cheen. Somehow, she got a reasonable looking single piece swimsuit, that was roughly her size. "Seems even after the reveal, I'm still lucky." she said, turning to Kenji and Yukata. "Well, I'm going to shower and get myself dressed. You boys may want to get your swimsuits off the floor. You'll need them." Aii said with a chuckle before heading for the shower rooms.

"THERE'S NO WAY I'M WEARING THAT!" Yukata shouted at Airi, who cringed at the shouting reverberating in the room.

"Volume, Yukata… I want to swim, so I will." Airi said as she shut the door.

"...So, which one of you wears the leopard print?" Reiko said with a low chuckle.

"It sure as hell ain't me!" Kenji said, not wanting to look at the thong.

"Heh, yeah. A few of us got our shit mixed up. I think Setsuki got a few pairs before she landed on hers, so check her for trunks." Reiko said. Kenji and Yukata walked by her to the pool room. Inside was a pool the length of 80 feet, starting at 3 feet deep, and going to about 9 on the other end of the pool.

There was a skylight that lit the entire pool room, making the entire roof look nearly like glass, in the back was a large sign saying "Pool hours are 7 AM, to 10 PM, same as school hours! Entry outside these hours are prohibited!" Inside they could see Akami sitting at one of the lifeguard posts, eating an ice cream bar while watching as Setsuki leapt off the diving board.

"FLIPPY SHIT!" Setsuki shouted, spinning into several front flips before hitting the pool in a big, loud, ugly splash from not even being close to landing perfect. Kenji walked over to the edge of the pool.

"That was… something." he said as Setsuki same up to the surface. "Hey, Setsuki! You got a second?" he asked. Setsuki swam over the edge of the pool, doing a handstand before landing right in front of Kenji.

"I got plenty of seconds! The clock has… a lot of seconds… Wait, I messed that up." Setsuki said, thumbing her lower lip, Kenji noticed she was in a bright blue swimsuit, matching her personality for the most part.

"Uhh.. I heard you got a bunch of swimsuits from the… swimsuit capsule machine thing… Ya got anything that looks like I would wear them?"

"Oh, so like boring dude shorts. I was gonna wear those if they came with a top!" Setsuki said, Kenji wincing slightly at having his preference for swimwear be called boring. Setsuki walked to a small gym bag on the floor, opening it up and pulling out a simple pair of red trunks, with a drawstring on the waistband.

"I'm jealous of your dudeshorts, Kenji! They look comfy and easy to wear." Setsuki said as she tossed them to Kenji.

"I… never really thought about shorts that way…" Kenji admitted.

"You got mine?" Yukata asked, Setsuki checking her bag.

"Hrm… looks like I got Yukiji's, Shiro's and… Akira's. Nothing for you, Yukata." Setsuki said, checking each pair before tossing them back into the bag.

"No! I don't wanna be stuck with the super tight speedo! It's gonna split my ass in half!" Yukata cried, Kenji desperately trying to get that mental image out of his head.

"No no no no nope. Didn't think of that." Kenji said, slapping himself on the forehead.

"Hey, shut up! Gimme your shorts!" Yukata demanded

"Not only no, but hell no! I finally got something to wear! I'm not going back to the thong!" Kenji said.

"I'll trade you the speedo! C'mon, be a pal!" Yukata said, waving the speedo in front of Kenji. Kiko suddenly jumped up, dressed in a blue floatation jacket with a shark's fin on the back, and snatched the speedo in her teeth, bolting off as she landed. She ran to Haru, setting down the speedo and giving off a bork of victory.

"Hah! I was wondering where this bad boy went! Good work, Kiko!" Haru said, petting her and giving her some beef jerky. Yukata quickly ran off to Haru.

"Wait, that's your speedo, Haru?" Yukata asked.

"Yep! You can really feel the flow of the ocean with it on!" Haru said proudly.

"Nooooope not thinking about it! No no no." Kenji muttered to himself, faster than before.

"Damn it… I don't wanna waste more Monocoins on pants! Did you happen to get a pair of shorts?" Yukata asked hopefully.

"Nah, just got Kiko's gear. She's a lil dog shark! Ain't that neat?" Haru said, getting a bark from Kiko in response.

"So, I got nothing…" Yukata said, walking off with his head down. "Back to the stupid Ma-Cheen…" he grumbled.

"Have fun, buddy!" Haru called as Yukata left the pool. "So, what's up, Kenji? What happened to your arms?"

"I'm just gonna say Monokuma did it, it's a long story." Kenji said. "So, you get a good look at the pool?" he asked.

"Yep! I mean, it's pretty much like a public pool, ya know? We got some showers, some lockers, the big diving board and there's a spa with hot tub and sauna! Plus, we got a lifeguard now! Right, Akami?!" Haru said with a hearty laugh.

"I only sit on this post to avoid being splashed. I will not let my makeup run, Haru." Akami said, glaring at Haru and Kenji from atop the lifeguard post.

"Well, doesn't look like there's anything wrong with the pool. Wanna check out the spa?" Kenji asked.

"Sure thing! Kiko, you're on lifeguard duty!" Haru said as he left, Kiko giving a quiet bark before sitting at attention by the edge of the pool. Kenji and Haru left the pool and headed for the spa. Inside was a hallway with four doors on each side. On the left side, through the windows, they could see the rooms each had a hot tub with towel racks ready for anyone needing a fresh towel.

On the right was a row of saunas. Like the hot tubs, each one had towel racks for easy access along with water buckets to control the temperature. As Kenji walked by the saunas, he stopped at a window that had been fogged up with steam. He squinted his eyes briefly to see before his eyes shot wide and his body stiffened. "What's up, Kenji? You see something in there?" Haru asked, bending forward to look over Kenji's shoulder. Inside the room were Akira, Miho, Hana and Airi chatting as steam billowed throughout the room.

"Haru… run! We gotta run…!" Kenji squeaked out, panicking and turning his eyes away from the window. "I don't want to go back to Akira's cell!"

"What are ya talkin about? We're not peeping or anything. We're just stopping by." Haru said, knocking on the sauna door. "We'll just say hi and explain we're here to inspect the sauna, right?"

"Wrong! So very wrong! Haru, we gotta run! If Miho finds us here, she's going to bodyslam us so hard our spines will explode!" Kenji said, grabbing at Haru's shirt and trying to pull him away.

"Well, I would go for about twenty-seven backfists. Or however many it takes to turn your face to mush." Miho said with a chuckle, Kenji turning around to see her leaning on the door, holding he towel to her body with one hand. Kenji let out a frightened wheeze of terror from Miho being behind him.

"AHHHHH! I-I wasn't peeping on you! D-don't hurt me!" Kenji pleaded, Miho laughing.

"Relax, Kenji. I'm not gonna hit you. The sauna's full, though, so you're gonna need to hit up another one." Miho said.

"Nah, we're just here to check the place out." Haru said. "Make sure it's safe, ya know?"

"Well, the saunas are nice. Just gotta make sure you don't move around too much. Don't wanna upset the cooling air and get burned. Looks like Kenji's already got a few burns himself." Miho said. Kenji didn't say a word, petrified with fear.

"Thanks for the tip! Well, we'd better get going before Kenji gives himself a heart attack." Haru said, grabbing Kenji by the shoulder and dragging him away, Kenji not even walking as Haru had to slide him on the heels of his sneakers.

"I don't understand, Haru." Kenji finally spoke up as he made it back to the lobby. "How are you so… composed around girls? Does being the Ultimate Dog Trainer teach you something about how to deal with a woman?" Kenji asked, but Haru just looked at him with confusion.

"That didn't come out the way you wanted, by the way." Haru pointed out, Kenji realizing he did say something that sounded… crude.

"Y-you know what I mean! Being around not fully dressed girls still… makes me not sure how to deal with them. I don't know what it is." Kenji admitted, still kind of uncomfortable talking about the subject.

"Girls aren't actually something I'm great at either, Kenji. But I can tell you something about dogs." Haru commented, but Kenji's eyes shot wide open.

"I thought we weren't calling girls dogs!" Kenji complained, but Haru just put a big hand on his shoulder.

"Simmer down. The thing about dogs is… they aren't going to do something you want them to do, no matter how much you demand, plead, beg, or shout. A dog has to respect you, and like you for them to ever listen to what you have to say." Haru explained, Kenji just staring at him in response.

"I'm not trying to get with the girls, just…" Kenji tried to explain, but Haru shook his head.

"Girls aren't an alien species, Kenji. They're typically just people, with their likes and dislikes about the same as dudes, just their parts work differently. Be respectful, try to treat them how you would treat yourself or a family member. Humans are just as good at smelling fear as dogs are." Haru continued to lecture Kenji, which made him surprised.

"You… must have had a couple girlfriends before for you to understand that." Kenji admitted, but Haru just broke out into a big chuckle.

"Nah, I actually like dudes. But the rules mostly apply for both genders, Kenji! Be cool, don't do something stupid, and respect your friends' comfort zones." Haru explained, ruffling Kenji's hair.

"Huh, well I mean I do that already, right? I think..." Kenji sad.

"Don't think you're being nice, know you are. Self reflection is suuuuper important to being attractive to your partner of choice!" Haru said, hands proudly on his hips.

"I thought I told you, I'm not trying to get a dat-...Did you say you liked guys?" Kenji asked, the realization hitting him.

"Yeah, I thought you already knew that…" Haru said, scratching the back of his head. Kenji shook his head.

"No, this is the first I've heard that from you. It doesn't bother me just… I didn't think you would be into guys." Kenji asked, but it got another laugh from Haru.

"You kiddin' me? I love hot guys! I just don't flirt with any of you because I'm being respectful, since I know most of you guys like the ladies." he said, rubbing the bottom of his nose. "Anyway, I dunno why, but I felt like you already knew so I didn't bring it up until now."

"Hrm… maybe you did, we just all forgot about it." Kenji pondered.

"You mean during last year?" Haru asked.

"Yeah, like you don't remember coming out to us, but the feeling of having done it still lingers in your head. I've felt something like that when I hang out with you guys. Like you guys are my closest friends even though I can only remember these past few weeks with you guys." Kenji said.

"I see what you're saying. Like, the memories are gone but the feelings remain. It's weird, but hey, I'm not complaining. You're a pretty cool dude, Kenji. You know, when you're not freaking out over boobs." Haru said with a big grin on his face, Kenji's ears burning.

"L-look, I just don't want people thinking I'm a pervert!" Kenji said.

"I don't think anyone does, dude. And if they did, they'd probably be the first to tell you." Haru said reassuringly. "You just gotta remember what I told you and you won't be so worried."

"So, be cool, respect people's comfort zones and don't be stupid?" Kenji repeated.

"That's the idea. Now let's grab ourselves something to eat. All this walking around has worked up an appetite." Haru said as they went to the pool to get Kiko before making their way back to the main building.


	24. Chapter 3: Daily Life 3

Chapter 3: Hula Hula, Monokuma Daily Life 3

Airi, Hana, Miho and Akira were spending their time together in the sauna, though Akira wasn't used to the sheer heat the sauna could put out. As Miho poured some water over the coals, causing steam to erupt from the heater in the middle, Akira was dressed in a dark blue bathing suit and taking deep breaths.

"The steam in here is like breathing soup. How is this supposed to be relaxing again?" Akira complained, taking a couple overly dramatic breaths in front of her companions.

"I don't know, I thought it was supposed to cleanse your toxins, or something." Hana replied, wearing a pink and black swimsuit over her lithe frame. She was trying to get her neck to pop, by twisting her head.

"That sounds like a bunch of pseudoscience…" Akira replied as Airi softly leaned back in her seat, legs crossed together as she watched everyone hanging out together in an absurdly hot room.

"Me n' the girls always used to bet each other who would bitch out first in here. I won at least 2000 yen doin that! I miss those days." Miho said, wearing absolutely nothing but a towel, as she didn't get her swimsuit from the Ma-cheen earlier. "Dunno about you guys, but that's at least 3 meals on the road." she said, pointing at the three of them with one eye closed.

"10 Monocoins that Akira runs straight for the pool in the next 5 minutes. Huh? How bout it?" Miho teased, nudging Akira with her elbow.

"H-hey… I wouldn't do that! I'd shower first… I wouldn't want to get the pool dirty." Akira said, sheepishly rubbing the shoulder Miho was elbowing.

"YOU'RE ON, MIHO!" Hana shouted, standing up from her seat and pointing at her. "I want those Monocoins, I might get something cool, like new sneakers!" Hana announced with her loud, ridiculous tone.

"Airi, help." Akira muttered out, before Airi began to have a sly grin on her face.

"I bet 5 monocoins Hana leaves first." Airi challenged, getting a gasp from Hana and Miho.

"Is… Airi doing something fun!? The world is ending. THE WORLD IS ENDING!" Hana shouted in fear, clenching her fists in excitement.

"That wasn't what I meant!" Akira complained, stomping her feet on the ground, which got a smile from Miho, who was watching her.

"You're always cute when you're mad. No idea how you do it." Miho teased Akira again, but she looked at her with an expectant smile. "Ya betting on anyone, Akira?" She asked, Akira shifting around the room.

"I… I don't like gambling." Akira muttered out, which got Miho to gently pat her on the shoulder.

"It's fine… you don't gotta if you don't want to." Miho said warmly, Akira smiling at her.

"Just try not to leave the sauna before Hana does, okay? I got money riding on this." Airi said.

"I WILL LIVE HERE IF I HAVE TO! YOU AREN'T GONNA FORCE ME OUT OF THIS HOTBOX!" Hana shouted, fire in her eyes.

"Hell yeah! That's the spirit, Hana! Make Akira a big ol loser!" Miho shouted, contrasting the tone she just used with Akira.

"Whose side are you on, Miho!?" Akira stammered out, incredulous.

"Yeah! Heel turn!" Miho exclaimed, standing up and pumping a fist, using the other hand to stop her towel from coming off.

"I… really don't want to do this, Miho!" Akira announced, but Airi shot a gaze at her in response.

"If you leave here, Airi loses money. You gonna let that happen to here, HUH AKIRA~?" Miho said, putting on an overdramatic act to match her new 'heel' persona.

"YEH! GET OUT AND GET DUNKED! I want those shoes!" Hana shouted, getting up and getting in Akira's face.

"No one cares about your shoes! You might not even get shoes from the Monomono Machine, you might get... whipped cream or something!" Akira said.

Hana scowled as she sat down, perfectly still. It seems that no matter Akira said, Hana was driven to win. So, Akira sighed and reluctantly joined the competition. The two sat in the steam, cheered on by Miho and Airi.

"You can do it, Hana! You've got that fighting spirit!" Miho shouted, Hana's fists trembling with excitement.

"Don't cave in to the pressure, Akira! This isn't about money, this is about pride! Your reputation!" Airi said, Akira steeling her gaze on her sauna battle opponent. Miho and Airi supplied more steam at intervals, turning the sauna into a hot mist. Akira and Hana were locked in the most intense staring contest, neither one wanting to break contact or turn their eyes to the door.

' _Don't you dare show weakness, Akira. The second you so much as glance at the door, it means you admit defeat. I'm not letting this little punk dunk me! You've been through worse in police training. This is nothing! You can do this… you can do this!'_ Akira thought, blinking to keep the sweat from trickling into her eyes. She began breathing heavily, seeing Hana panting as well.

"Heh… you're startin' melt there, Akira. You know there's a nice cool shower just a few feet away… though I don't know if they got a tub for you to get DUNKED IN!" Hana taunted, Akira chuckling.

"Hah, shame the pool's a bit too big for you. Maybe once you leave you can ask Monokuma to make you a kiddy pool." Akira shot back, Hana growling at her. Akira smirked as Miho moved to calm Hana down and prevent a potential fistfight. "Hahahaha. Got a it of short fuse, Hana?" Akira joked, laughing harder than normal.

"Yeh yeh! Keep laughing! You won't be laughing when your ass is on fire!" Hana shouted. Time passed, feeling slower as the room got hotter and hotter.

"Whoa.. it's actually getting kind of hot in… here…" Akira said as her vision blurred, finally fading to black. Akira opened her eyes to see herself in a blindingly bright white room. "Unh… wha happened? Where am I?" Akira asked as she blocked the light from her eyes with her hand.

"Rise and shine, Akira! Good to see you're finally up! You sorta… passed out on us." Miho explained, sitting on the edge of the bed, wearing a long white robe over her body.

"I… I don't remember passing out." Akira said.

"Yeah, heat exhaustion. Never saw that in any sauna battles I was in. We had to get you out of there. But, since we dragged you out before Hana left, that means I win!" Miho said with a grin and a flash of the peace sign.

"Wh-what?! But I was unconscious! I didn't leave of my own accord! That's a disqualification!" Akira objected.

"Hey, who makes the rules of a sauna battle?" Miho said, Akira groaning and burying he head into the pillow.

"I didn't get any burns, did I?" Akira asked, looking at her hands, she was switched into a hospital gown at some point, since her bikini wasn't what she was wearing.

"Nah, you just need some water and some rest… I got really worried ya know." Miho said, popping open a juice box with a straw and sucking it in the corner of her mouth as she spoke.

"That was my first time in a sauna… Maybe I should have told you guys." Akira said sheepishly.

"Hey, you held out pretty well for a first timer. You still went for half an hour with Hana. But I think that means no sauna battles from now on." She said, sipping her drink some more as Akira looked to the side, she had an I.V drip of saline, to rehydrate her.

"Say, Akira… do you think there would be any way for Monokuma to let us out early?" Miho asked, but Akira wasn't sure how to answer that question.

"Like… If there was a loophole or something so we don't have to finish the game?" Akira asked, tapping her lower lip. "I read the regulations a couple of times… It's the only thing I could go on… If there was a way to stop this, I wouldn't know what it would be."

"If there were only two students allowed to leave… I hope it's us. I'm not dyin' here, and I'll make sure you don't either." Miho said, flopping on her back right beside Akira, looking at her. Akira began to lay back on the bed, both of them staring up at the ceiling.

"...What are we gonna do about Reiko? She seemed really angry about… What your family did." Akira asked, but Miho gently slid her hand down near hers, softly squeezing their fingers together.

"I'll need to deal with that if it comes up, Akira… She has every right to be mad, but I feel like it's just more ways to try and get us to betray each other. I hope she understands that." She said. Akira hesitated… but began to held her hand.

"I hate being here." Akira muttered out. "We're dying for no damn reason." she said, squeezing Miho's hand a little harder this time. "It's not fair… We didn't do anything. We're not criminals… We're just some kids in a school, we have nothing to do with this."

"I know, it's fucked up. But… maybe we just make the most of it, right? No one's making us kill anyone, barring Class Trials… And we always have us, y'know." Miho said with a warm smile, brushing her thumb gently against the back of Akira's hand.

"You'll get out. Akira. You're smart, you make friends with everyone… Even Shiro's your friend and I don't know what black magic ritual you fuckin' did to pull that off, and you're like an MVP on the class trials."

"I wouldn't really call Shiro a friend… more an acquaintance than anything…" Akira said, but Miho just laughed at that.

"More of a friend than he is to me, ya dork." she said, turning to look at Akira, who looked over as well.

"Yeah… anyway, you said we should make the most of this whole thing. What should we-" Akira began to ask when Miho kissed her, cutting off the conversation. Her eyes widened with shock, her hand began to tighten around Miho's. Her face became warm, turning bright red. Miho hooked her arm around Akira, pulling her closer as she pushed against the stunned police cadet. Akira didn't fight against this. She couldn't really explain it, but this all felt right to her. It felt safe, familiar, comforting, sublime, warm. It felt real.

Akira shut her eyes as she pushed her lips against Miho's. Shaking hands reached out for Miho in the darkness, guided by Miho's own hands. They locked in their embrace for what felt like hours before Miho finally broke away from Akira.

"Just… believe in me, alright? We'll get through it." Miho said with a reassuring smile. Akira smiled back, resting her head against Miho's shoulder.

"I will… and we will." Akira said, noticing a figure stood at the doorway. Airi stood there, looking at the two with a smirk.

"Hope I'm not interrupting anything, just wanted to see if Akira had finally woken up." Airi said as she walked into the room. Akira's blush deepened as she covered herself with the bedsheet.

"Ack! A-Airi! I'm f-fine! We were just-" Akira stammered out

"Making out. Not really recommended while hospitalized with heatstroke, but it's your call." Airi said, grabbing a chair and sitting down.

"Heh, Airi's right, y'know. I should probably get going before you get too hot agan." Miho said, stretching a bit as she got up from the bed. She gave a playful wink to Akira as she left the room, Akira letting out an embarrassed whimper.

"She's always doing that! It's like she lives to humiliate me!" Akira said, Airi chuckling at that.

"Maybe... anyway, good to see you're okay. Looking at it, I'd say you got about another hour of hydration before you can leave. You want anything?"

"Food would be nice." Akira said as she threw the sheet down. Airi got up and went to a nearby fridge, tossing a wrapped sandwich to Akira. Akira unwrapped, plain bologna on white, but she ate it anyway.

Airi sat back down with two bottles of milk, handing one to Akira. "I'm not really the best sandwich maker. My food typically consisted of cafeteria food at my training station, and when I was on missions… whatever catering the building I infiltrated had." Airi said, twisting off the cap for her milk bottle.

"I've been meaning to ask about that. Why did you become a spy?" Akira asked. "I mean, if that isn't classified information."

"Well, since you guys already know I'm a spy, I think it's safe to say. So, why did I become a spy? Well, it wasn't something I really wanted to do. I was part of a government training program. The Apollo Project. Most of the children in the Project were orphans, though others would volunteer their own children to the program. My parents had volunteered me to the organization because my mother worked as intelligence officer. That and she thought having me was a mistake, so she pretty much forced me to be raised in a boarding house for children who will be specially trained… Child soldiers, child robotics experts, child spies… None of it was morally acceptable, but it was still technically legal."

"What was it like to be in the Project?" Akira asked, wanting to hold back a lot of her other comments about Airi's mother abandoning her like that.

"Where do I start? The grueling physical training? The unending intelligence examinations? The psychological evaluations? The Apollo Project didn't treat me like I was a person… I had no free time, by the time I was 11, I had to solve ciphers and learn trigonometry. The rest of those kids didn't fare much better. Some ran away, some commited suicide… I went on my first mission when I was 13." Airi said, stopping to take a drink.

"Your first mission?" Akira said, fascinated.

"Mhm. I had a wiretap device on me as I was left alone to roam the Togami financial building. There was a financer laundering money, and I just had to stick around long enough to find out who." Airi said, Akira eating some of her sandwich before she could ask a question.

"Why send a 13 year old into the Togami building?" Akira asked, but Airi softly one of her pens in her free hand as she answered.

"I was just a kid lost in the building when someone found me. I just told them I was looking for my dad, and they would be on the way. Most people think spies are beret wearing, pistol brandishing mustachioed yes-men. They didn't think a little girl would be a spy." Airi said, pointing her pen at Akira, who was just wide eyed.

"So you shut down an embezzlement scheme at 13… for the government? Maybe you work for the government." Akira surmised, but Airi shook her head.

"I became freelance at 16, unshackled from the government and free to take international jobs, along with private corporations. The only target I wasn't allowed to go after was the Japanese Government. Since they had all my records, and were the only ones able to unmask my identity." Airi explained.

"But what about the Apollo Project?" Akira asked.

"No clue if it's still running. I'm barred from even talking about it, you're lucky you've heard this much… but it seems like Monokuma has enough influence to keep us hidden like this." Airi said, sipping more of her milk.

"Is… that why you don't like talking about yourself?" Akira asked, getting a soft nod from her conversation partner.

"The more I talk about myself, the harder my job is… I have to be whatever I'm told I need to be, so the more I have my own identity, the easier I'll be able to get caught. Even then… In this scenario it's still kind of hard to talk about myself, all my connections are gone. I woke up without a single piece of communication equipment. I can't even hack the Monopad." Airi said, sounding slightly irritated.

"Fun fact for the two of you!" Monokuma said, slamming both of his paws on the table. "I made those Monopads special so you can't hack em! You can't shoot them, run 'em over, or freeze them either! You can boil them though, the battery uses water ionization, meaning it can run for thousands of hours, and all you have to do to recharge it, is fill it with more water! Just… you can boil the water, even then, it takes a pretty long boil!" he said with enthusiasm.

"...Are you just here to gloat about your own invention?" Airi said, shutting Monokuma down on his harassment and slowly causing him to slide off the table.

"I… was expecting a better reaction than that… Maybe I should go back to bothering Kenji, you guys are lame." Monokuma sulked before vanishing.

"How does someone that petty have so much control over us?" Airi wondered. "Well, I'd say you've learned all you really need to know. Unless you had any more questions, I'm not sure what we're left to do." she said, finishing her food and drink for now. "Do you think you could make it back to your dorm room, Akira?" Airi asked, out of concern.

"I don't know how late it is… I'm not super sure I'd be safe walking back, even if the killing game is suspended." Akira said.

"I'll go with you if you want." Airi offered. Akira smiled and nodded.

"Thanks. Just gimme a few more minutes. I wanna make sure I don't take this IV out wrong." Akira said, having wheeled the IV stand around with her this whole time. Airi nodded and left the room.

"Sure, I'm gonna see if you've got any clothes waiting for ya." she said, Akira looking over the IV drip stuck in her arm. After a few minutes of careful, delicate removal and bandaging, Akira was ready to go, putting on a pair of slippers before heading out of the room. As she walked along the hall, Airi stopped her, throwing her a pair of clothes. "Get yourself dressed. It's a bit chilly out tonight." she said, Akira heading into a nearby room to change. Airi went ahead, leaving the hospital.

Airi waited at the front entrance of the hospital when Akira stepped out, the two walking back to the main building. The journey back was quiet, with only the sounds of the wind against the trees breaking the silence. They returned to the main building, Akira feeling relieved to be back in the warmth after the being in the cold evening air. As they headed for the dining hall, Akira heard a loud clanging sound. "Huh? You hear that, Airi? Akira asked as she stopped.

"Yeah, sounds like it's coming from… the shower room." Airi said, Akira rushing for the shower room. She ran in, paying no mind if anyone was showering as she wanted to be sure no one's body had been dumped there. She opened up the door to the trash chute and begin to hear a hollering from above. She looked up and saw Setsuki fly straight down the chute, into the dump with a hard crash. Setsuki popped up, arms outstretched as she let out an excited cry, discarding a cup of ramen stuck to her helmet.

"Whooo! That was awesome!"

"Wh-what?! SetsukI! What are you doing?! I told you that trash diving wasn't allowed!" Akira said, Setsuki pumped her fist a few times out of excitement.

"What're you, the trash authority!? It's fun! Blame a girl for wanting a lil' excitement in her life."

"It's how Emi hid Rio's murder." Akira said before hearing another thump

"Dramatic entrance!" Yukiji announced in the trash chute, before landing right next to Setsuki, also wearing a helmet.

"Yeah! Nice landing, Yukes!" Setsuki said, pulling him out of the garbage, the two laughing.

"Ahaha! Hahaha…ha... Oh no." Yukiji said, shrinking when he realized he was in the stern gaze of Akira.

"Yukiji! I told you not to go trash diving again! You could've gotten seriously hurt in that chute o hit your head on the edge of the dumpster!" Akira scolded.

"That's why I'm wearing a helmet…" Yukiji said meekly, hiding himself further behind Setsuki. Akira opened her mouth, holding up a finger, but no words came out.

"He does have a helmet, KiKi." Setsuki said. "I'm not just gonna toss Yukiji into a dumpster without protection. What is he, trash?"

"Ah.. yeah… but you guys… trash diving is bad!" Akira objected.

"It wasn't trash diving. It was trash sledding." Yukiji said.

"Then where's the sled?!" Akira asked, incredulous.

"...We tried to make one in the workshop. Glue doesn't hold wood together as well as we thought." Setsuki said.

"Did you try wood glue?" Akira asked.

"...Oh. We shoulda done that..." Yukiji replied, scratching his head. 

"Wait, why am I suggesting how to make A DUMPSTER SLED!? I was yelling at you guys!" Akira shouted, facepalming

"Because it's fun, silly…" Setsuki said, climbing out of the dumpster. She gave Yukiji a hand out of the dumpster.

"Look, fun or not, there's no way anyone is trash diving, or sledding, or skiing, or skating, there won't even be trash yoga if I can help it!" Akira shouted.

"Sorry, Akira…" Yukiji said sadly, putting his head down. Akira looked at him, sighing and taking a deep breath.

"It's okay, Yukiji… I'm not mad at you, I just don't want you getting hurt or sick. This place is dangerous and you don't know what could be in that dumpster…" she said, putting a hand on his shoulder.

"I know… I just needed something to take my mind off of… what happened." Yukiji said, looking away. Akira pulled him into a hug.

"I know, that's why I'm not mad at you. Just… don't do anything reckless like this again, okay?" Akira said, brushing off pieces of trash stuck to his body.

"Okay…" Yukiji said, resting his head on her shoulder. Akira would soon let go.

"Now, why don't you go wash up? I'll see you at the dining hall." Akira suggested, Yukiji nodding and walking out of the trash room. Setsuki headed off as well, waving to Akira as she walked by. "Hey, Setsuki?"

"Yeah?" Setsuki said, stopping at the door.

"Thanks for hanging out with Yukji. Just… can you not go down the trash chute anymore?" Akira asked.

"No promises, KiKi! I'll just make sure I solo next time!" Setsuki said, flashing a v-sign with both hands. Akira sighed and shook her head.

"...Why do I bother?" Akira said as she left the trash room.


	25. Chapter 3: Daily Life 4

Chapter 3: Hula Hula, Monokuma. (Daily Life 4)

Kenji finally managed to shake off the flustered feeling he had from encountering so many people at the pool, and just before that night's dinner. It helped that everyone was wearing their normal clothes. It was pizza night, according to Monokuma… But the pizza wasn't that great, the sauce of the pizza clearly indicated he used a can for the sauce, with a tinny aftertaste that made it less appealing, the cheese itself was low quality, and nearly fell off the pizza when he picked up the unseasoned, slightly floppy slices of pizza crust in his hands.

"Monokuma does not know what good pizza tastes like." Yukata complained, taking a bite of his slice and chewing with a disappointed look on his face.

"He's good with other food. He makes decent flapjacks, and that casserole he made that one night was alright… why does he suck at pizza?" Kenji asked.

"It's one of the mysteries of this school, Kenji…" Yukata muttered out, but Kenji was a bit confused.

"I think there might be bigger mysteries than Monokuma's disappointing pizza." Kenji said.

"Well, if you really want to solve this mystery, it's because MonoKatering has been hard at work prepping delicious dishes for the luau! So we had to cut costs and make something quick for the next few dinners! Hope you like Micro Meal dinners! They come with a brownie and everything!" Monokuma said, appearing before their table.

"...Seriously?" Yukata complained, poking the pizza with his fork. "You just microwaved some food?" Yukata asked, incredulously. Monokuma sighed, puffing out his chest and stomping his foot.

"I work very hard to make sure you have an exciting killing game, and you get on my case just because you don't like a simple microwave dinner? I broke my back for this family, Yukata! I come home every night and put on a movie, and ignore you. It isn't because I don't love you, it's because I'm tired! Shut up and eat your pizza!" Monokuma shouted, the last bit just confusing the everloving hell out of the two friends.

"...What are you talking about?" Kenji asked, staring at Monokuma.

"Bah! To hell with this family! I shoulda went to art school, I shouldn't have taken that job at the bowling alley, to have an uppity student complain about MY pizza! I worked really hard on that! I baked it with love!" Monokuma ranted.

"You made it in a microwave! You literally just told us that." Kenji pointed out.

"A microwave made of love, ya wiseass!" he said, hitting Kenji with a rolled up newspaper.

"That hurt!" Kenji complained, putting his hands on his head to cover the sting of being hit. "Is this a bit? Are we in a bit right now!? Monokuma, what is going on with you!?" Kenji shouted, before getting hit on the head again.

"I'm very disappointed in someone, so I'm sorry daddy's gotta take it out on you, Kenji. But to be fair… you coulda just shut up and ate your pizza!" Monokuma said, tightening his grip on the newspaper.

"I'm so confused..." Yukata muttered out. Monokuma left, grumbling about 'student ingrate children' as he vanished. The two ate their slightly soggy pizza, barely able to finish it before tossing it out in the trash and leaving the dining hall. Kenji stopped at the MonoMono Machine, putting in five Monocoins and getting a slingshot.

"Damn it, I was hoping for food…" Kenji said, inspecting the slingshot and sighing.

"I don't know… I kinda think a slingshot might be cool." Yukata said, before putting his 5 Monocoins in as well, the object that fell to the front landed with a thud. Kenji opened it to reveal a massive can of peaches, larger than his head.

"You got... peaches? You got peaches! THAT'S A FOOD, YUKATA!" Kenji said, eyes bright with excited.

"S&M Peaches… you bite the peach, the peach bites back? ...What does that mean?" Yukata said, Kenji's eyes began to fill with disappointment as he looked around the floor.

"T-there's no can opener. Yukata… I can't open the can…" Kenji said, slowly raising the can of peaches over his head to try and smash into the ground.

"Kenji, wait! You're not that hungry, are you!? You're still injured!" Yukata pleaded, wondering why his friend was… so dramatic today. "We can find a can opener! We just have to look, dude!"

"I just want the taste of awful pizza sauce out of my mouth! It's a hell no one deserves!" Kenji exclaimed, seeing Reiko walk by. "Reiko! We need your bat!" he shouted.

"...Are you guys being fucking weirdos again? Didn't this just happen at the pool?" Reiko asked.

"We can't open these peaches! Give us your bat!" Kenji said.

"...That is the stupidest fucking thing… We're in a killing game and you're fucking with peaches." Reiko grumbled as she walked over and ripped the can from Kenji's hand. "Gimme that shit…"

She turned to the MonoMono Machine, lifting the can up and slamming it down hard on it, the peaches instantly burst open, sending fleshy pink fruit and a lot of juice flying everywhere. The MonoMono Machine started up again, causing lights to flash a fanfare and drop another item into the reward tray. " **LUCKY!** " the machine shouted. Yukata bent down to pick up the capsule, opening up to receive a can opener.

"...It's the can opener." Yukata said, staring in utter disbelief.

"Are you fucking serious?!" Reiko shouted, Kenji pulling the can from her and shoveling a handful of peaches into his mouth.

"There is a god, and he's in a can of peaches." Kenji announced, Reiko just sighing.

"That proves it. He's crazy now. Let's put him in Akira's weird fuckbox." Reiko said in a defeated tone.

"It's a prison cell, Reiko!" Akira shouted from the hall.

"NO ONE ASKED YOU, COP!" Reiko yelled back, flipping Akira off. She turned back to find Kenji on the floor, pouring peaches into his open mouth. She turned back to Akira. "Can you put Kenji in your cell? He's being a fuckin' freak over here! It's like someone gave him a case of the stupids!"

"He hasn't broken a regulation!" Akira said.

"He's eating peaches on the floor, Akira! He lost his shit!" Yukata argued.

"DON'T JUDGE ME, MONOKUMA'S PIZZA SUCKED! I haven't eaten since the last class trial!" Kenji shouted between bites. "It's peaches time, god damn it!"

"Kenji, you have a problem! And those are my peaches!" Yukata said, trying to take the can from Kenji. Reiko rubbed her temples and walked off from them, heading upstairs.

"What a buncha retards…" she grumbled as she headed for her dorm.

* _Ding Dong, Dong Ding_ *

"Guys… really? I mean..." Monokuma trailed off, before clearing his throat. "It is 10 PM! Get to bed and stop getting peach juice on my clean floors! The floors will get sticky!" Monokuma said before the monitor shut off. Kenji blinked a few times, staring up at the ceiling.

"...What the hell am I doing?" Kenji asked, slowly sifting his hands on the ground, which was currently coated in peaches and a sticky syrup, looking up at Yukata, who had a face like he just saw hell open up in front of him. Akira looked just bewildered.

"...I feel like we need to talk, Kenji." Akira said, helping Kenji to his feet.

"How did I get on the floor? Why am I covered in peach?" Kenji asked, looking around.

"Dude, you went nuts. You drowned yourself in peaches." Yukata said, Kenji scratching the back of his head.

"I did?" Kenji asked.

"Yeah... Kenji, are you feeling alright?" Akira asked, concerned.

"Well, I am feeling a bit gross. Maybe I should get to bed…" Kenji said, heading upstairs.

"You think that memory wipe did something to him?" Yukata asked.

"Maybe.. I'm more worried that this whole Killing Game is starting to take its toll on him." Akira said. "I don't think you'll need to spend the night with him, but if it gets worse, you know what to do." she said before leaving to go to bed herself. Yukata nodded and went up the steps, going to his dorm for the night.

 _*Ding Dong, Dong Ding*_

"Gyyyeeeoood morning, students~ It's another lovely day here at Enoshima University. Don't forget, the Killing Game is suspended and tomorrow is the night of the luau! Have a wonderful day!" came Monokuma's morning announcement, waking the students. They headed down for breakfast, Kenji catching up with Yukata.

"Good morning, Yukata!" Kenji said, feeling energized from a good night's rest.

"Mornin', Kenji. You're looking better. How ya feelin', man?" Yukata asked as they passed the dorm hall, heading for the stairs.

"Much better. Probably just seasonal change messing up my immune system." Kenji said.

"Thinkin' you'll sit out the luau, then?" Yukata asked.

"No, I'll be there. I probably won't do anything too physical, though. I mean, swimming's out until my arms are better." Kenji said, holding the rail gingerly as they walked downstairs. They made it to the dining hall, sitting at their usual table. The dining hall filled with the remaining students, though one student had not stepped through the doors.

"Huh, where's Reiko?" Kenji asked, Yukata shrugging.

"Probably avoiding Miho." he replied. Kenji nodded, watching as MonoKatering brought out platters of bacon and eggs. Breakfast went by without incident, though Kiko kept stealing bacon from everyone's plates. Kenji got up as the Monokumas gathered the empty plates. He thought about what he would do for the day when he felt a hand grab his turned to see kira standing there.

"Hey, Kenji. You mind helping me out? I wanna see about organizing my lab, make sure I haven't lost anything else." she asked.

"Sure." Kenj said, the two leaving the main building. Kenji opted to avoid the MonoMono Machine for a while, the trip to the lab building going smoothly. They stepped into Akira's lab, seeing Shiro sat at her desk, reading a book. "Shiro? What are you doing here?" Kenji asked, Shiro looking up from his book.

"Kazue asked me to assist her in reorganizing her lab. I would not have done so for others, but she had aided me previously, so I am repaying the gratitude." Shiro explained. Kenji shrugged at that. If Akira wanted Shiro's help, he couldn't do much about it. He just hoped the insults would be kept to a minimum.

"Alright! Then let's get started!" Akira said, clapping her hands together. Shiro nodded, marked his place in the book before setting it down. Akira walked over, taking a binder and setting it on the table.

"I found some articles related to the time before we went to this college, can you do the honors, Kenji?" She asked, Kenji nodding as he slowly reached out to open the binder. Suddenly, Akira had a manic grin, snapping a handcuff on one of his wrists. Before anyone could react, Akira grabbed Shiro's wrist and slapped the remaining cuff onto it. The two looked and saw they had been cuffed together with three feet of chain connecting them.

"W-what?! Kazue, what is the meaning of this?!" Shiro asked, glaring incredulously at Akira.

"Yeah, what the hell, Akira?!" Kenji asked.

"Congratulations, guys! You're now in the Enoshima University Friendship Relay!" Akira announced with a double thumbs-up.

"Do friendship relays require handcuffs!?" Shiro complained. "And why do I need to be friends with any of you? You lot frustrate me beyond belief!"

"Yeah! You know I can't stand Shiro. Why the hell would you handcuff me with him!?" Kenji complained, but Akira just lidded her eyes and put both hands on her hips.

"You've exemplified my point. If the Killing Game restarts, you two will be a very major fault line that might lead to more murders. I'm putting an end to it during this suspension. You will be friends, damn it!" Akira complained. "Besides, you were friends in the pictures in Emi's room. It's not like it's impossible!"

"Whatever happened in that lost year is unlikely to repeat itself. Nagase should've proven that to you by her actions." Shiro said. "Now, uncuff me. I refuse to participate in this foolishness." He said, pointing intensely at her.

"Yeah, get us out of these!" Kenji said, finding it odd to be agreeing with Shiro, but being cuffed was not on his free time schedule today.

"Nope! The Friendship Relay is MANDATORY! Compulsory friendship! It's the only way we'll be able to get out of here." Akira declared. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to recruit everyone else! And don't bother trying to get yourself free, I've got all the cuff keys!" she shouted as she left. Kenji and Shiro watch her, frustrated and incredulous at their situation.

"Taisei, I hope you have an idea of how to remove these handcuffs." Shiro said Kenji tapping his chin in thought.

"I think i know someone who can help. C'mon, Shiro!" Kenji said, running out of Akira's lab, dragging Shiro along. As he walked down the hall, he felt Shiro tugging against him.

"Taisei! Do not drag me like I'm one of Yamada's mongrel mutts!" Shiro snapped.

"Then start walking!" Kenji shot back, tugging harder on his end of the cuffs. He dragged them to Reiko's lab, knocking on the door. "Reiko, it's Kenji! Open up, I need your help!" he said, Reiko opening up. Shiro grimaced at the sight of Reiko, who was in the middle of putting together a bike. Her coat had been discarded, leaving her in a white beater shirt. The wraps on her arms were covered with grease and sweat as she wiped off her forehead, slice of pizza dangling precariously from her mouth and can of Panta in her left hand. She grabbed the pizza from her mouth, putting in her free hand.

"Yo, you're not freaking about fucking peaches again, are- the fuck do you want, Shiro?" Reiko said, glaring at Shiro, who simply turned his nose at her.

"He's why I'm here. Akira cuffed us together." Kenji said, pulling the chain into view.

"...Man, Akira's into some kinky shit, isn't she?" Reiko said with a smirk. Kenji sputtered, unable to form words in response to that.

"Refrain from assuming such retched ideas about me and Taisei, Ono. Kazue forced us into these to participate in her Friendship Relay. She won't unlock them, so Taisei bought us to you." Shiro explained.

"We need to cut this chain. You got anything?" Kenji asked, Reiko scratching her head as she thought.

"Yeah, think I got a pair of bolt cutters. Come on in." Reiko said, moving aside to let them in. Kenji walked in but felt the chain stop. He turned to see Shiro still standing in the hall.

"I refuse to set foot in Ono's personal junkyard. I will stay out here while you cut us free." Shiro said.

"Well, fuck you too…" Reiko mumbled as she looked around her lab, finding a pair of bolt cutters. She readied the cutters, Kenji's eyes lighting up.

"Reiko! Just the girl I was looking-" Akira said, stopping at the doorway. "What are you doing?" she asked.

"I'm making soup. What the fuck does it look like I'm doing? What are you doin' cuffing Kenji and Shiro together?" Reiko asked, Akira running to grab the bolt cutters from Reiko's hand

"It's for the Friendship Relay! Now let go! Or I'll never shut up about it for the rest of your life, Reiko!" she said, trying to pry the cutters out of Reiko's hands.

"Get the fuck off!" Reiko shouted, trying to elbow Akira off. Kenji tried to back away from the fight, but Shiro stood outside of the lab. "Shiro! Move!" Kenji shouted, tugging on the chain hard.

"I refuse to involve myself in this-" Shiro said before Kenji finally yanked him into the lab, sending him flying into the scuffle. Shiro managed to catch himself before he landed on the two women fighting on the floor. He wrapped the chain once around his hand and began to pull as hard as he could. "Do not pull me!" Shiro spat out, marching out of the lab and dragging Kenji along.

The chained students walked through the halls, looking for a solution to their little handcuff problem. Emi's lab was locked off and Akira had locked hers before leaving. "Maybe my lab has a spare bolt cutter." Kenji said, leading the way to his lab. Once again, Shiro stood outside of the lab, refusing to enter. "Shiro, I'm not happy about this either, but if we're going to get these cuffs off, we're gonna have to work together." Kenji said.

"...Fine, just let me know when you need to cover more ground." Shiro said, rolling his eyes as he stood at the door frame. Kenji sighed and began to search his lab. He looked through the lab, finding nothing resembling cutters. "You know, it would help if you looked too. You don't have to touch anything, just look." he said as he pushed a crate of hammers aside.

"There is a pair of branch shears on the upper left wall, under the wrenches." Shiro said, adjusting his glasses slightly. Kenji looking up and seeing the shears on the wall. He stood up and grabbed them, turning to the chain and wrapping it along the lab's doorframe. Lifting a hand up and hooking the branch cutter blade against the chain. He could only use one hand, so he tugged Shiro's arm.

"Keep your arm close to mine, so I can grab both side of the cutters." Kenji asked. Shiro nodded and moved his arm closer. Kenji made sure he had a good grip on the cutters, taking a deep breath. He pushed the shears together, but the shears simply stopped at the tried again, putting light scratches on the chain. After a few more attempts, he had to stop, seeing they were getting nowhere. Kenji sighed "Well, I tried… maybe there's something in the workshop we can-"

* _Ding Dong, Dong Ding*_

"Ahhhhm, this is a Special Enoshima University Announcement. The Enoshima University Friendship Relay will begin in 10 minutes! All students will meet at the gym. Attendance is mandatory, so be sure to be there. Listen to Akira, dammit! I can't believe I said that in an actual sentence. Things must have gotten pretty darn dire, you bunch of sadsacks!" Monokuma shouted from the lab's monitor.

"I can see why that bear frustrates you so much, Taisei…" Shiro said.

"Right? He's so frustrating…" Kenji said, doing his best to unwrap the chain before putting the shears back. The two left, heading back to the main building. They entered the gym, where the students stood and waited, staring at Kenji and Shiro. They could see that they were the only ones cuffed together.

"Keennnnn! So, looks like you and Shiro are teaming up," Setsuki said, walking up to them.

"Not by any semblance of choice, but yes. Taisei and I will be participating." Shiro said.

"Cool. Me and Yukes are on the same team. He's pretty hyped about it!" Setsuki said, turning her head to Yukiji, who was standing by the wall, eyes glazed over and a happy smile on his face.

"...That's hyped?" Kenji said, Setsuki shaking a hand, waving him off a bit.

"It's Yukiji hype. I guess that's what he does when he's excited. You sayin' you don't see the fire in his eyes, Kenji?" Setsuki asked.

"I… I guess…" Kenji said. "So, who else is teaming up?"

"I dunno. We only got here a few seconds before you, so I haven't gotten to know all the teams." Setsuki said.

"Well, guess we'll have to see who else is teaming up." Kenji said, pulling lightly at the chain. Shiro sighed and reluctantly followed him as Kenji walked over to Haru and Hana. "Hey, guys. So, you teaming up together?" Kenji asked.

"Yeh! We're gonna win this relay! With Haru, I can start dunking people for real!" Hana said, pumping her fist. Haru chuckled, bumping fists with Hana.

"Yeah, Hana and I are pretty tight, but we're gonna try at being better friends with this relay! We even got a mascot!" he said, Kiko barking and jumping in the air.

"We are… Team Best Team!" Hana said with a grin, Kiko hopping onto her head and barking. Kenji got confused by the wording, cocking a brow.

"Team… Best Team." Shiro repeated, rubbing his temple with his free hand. "I can't believe you people." he complained.

"What's there not to understand, we're the best team!" Haru said with a wholesome grin.

"Hell yeh! We're gonna win this Relay because we're the best team!" Hana said, bumping fists with Haru again.

"Well, may the best team win." Kenji said, offering a friendly hand

"We will!" Haru and Hana said in unison, Kenji shaking his head.

"Oh god, I knew they were gonna do that." he said, rubbing his face in frustration, before shaking hands with his friends. He turned aside to let Shiro do the same. "Well? You gonna shake hands?" Kenji said.

"I am not playing along with this foolishness." Shiro said.

"Ahh, c'mon! This is all about friendship! Be a good sport!" Kenji said, nudging Shiro in the side with his elbow. Shiro sighed, reaching a hand out and shaking hands with Haru and Hana.

"I do this under protest, Taisei. Please told me either of you washed your hands before this." Shiro said, Kenji was busy shaking hands with Kiko and missed his reluctant partner's words.

"Alright, that's one team. Let's see who Yukata's working with." Kenji said, pulling Shiro along. Yukata was stood next to Airi spotting Kenji and smiling. "Hey, Yukata. Teamin' with Airi?" he asked, fistbumping with Yukata.

"Yeah, we kind of just got put together after everyone else got paired up." Yukata explained.

"Well, Kudo, I'm not sure who has the worse partner between us." Shiro said, smirking sightly.

"At least I don't have to be cuffed to Yukata." Airi said, getting a laugh from her partner. "I'm not really sure about this whole Friendship Relay thing, though. I get cooperation with how things have been, but do we really need to go into a full-blown friendship? And what does friendship have to do with sports?" she asked.

"SPORTS IS ALL ABOUT FRIENDSHIP, KUDO!" Setsuki shouted, pointing a finger accusingly at Airi for her act of defiance. "I should know! I am SPORTS!" She continued to shout, getting a confused look on Airi's face.

"O...kay… Something tells me you may have had a part in this idea. " Airi surmised, a gloved hand on her chin.

"You got that right, Spy-ri! Me, Yukiji, Haru and Akira put this together!" Setsuki said, putting up double thumbs.

"Please never call me that again if you value your life." Airi warned Setsuki, who kept her thumbs up but slowly started to back away from her out of caution.

"So… you guys know who else is teaming up?" Kenji asked, Airi putting a hand to her chin.

"Well, I think Miho and Akami have partnered up." Airi said, pointing to Miho, who was in the middle of trying to force Akami into one of her t-shirts. Kenji and Shiro apprehensively approached them, Kenji waving goodbye to Yukata.

"Wear. My. Merch. Dammit! C'mon! We're a tag-team!" Miho demanded as Akami continued to struggle against it.

"Damn it! Stop, you're gonna smudge my eyeliner, you ogress!" Akami said as Miho finally forced his head through the hole.

"There we go! Now put your arms in!" Miho said. "Hey there, Kenji. You and Shiro, huh? Sounds like a real Festival of Friendship." she said, grunting as she pulled at Akami's arms.

"Kenji, help me! This shirt is too big!" Akami pleaded as Miho finally got the shirt on him.

"Oh, come on! It's only a bit loose! Besides, we look like a proper team now!" Miho asserted, wrapping an arm around Akami's neck. "What do you think, Kenji?" she asked, pushing Akami up against her and tightening her hold.

"Well… the black matches his usual clothes…" Kenji figured, seeing the dour expression on Akami's face as he tried to escape Miho's hold. "Cheer up, Akami. At least you don't need to drag Shiro around the whole time." he said with a smile.

"Ah, don't be throwin' your partner under the bus, Kenji! Ya know, adversity can really bring out the best in people. Maybe being forced to work together will put you and Shiro on the same page." Miho said as she began to loosen her hold on Akami. "But it's not like you'll be the unstoppable team of… of… Team Us!" Miho sad, flashing a peace sign.

"Yeah… go Team Us…" Akami said, rolling his eyes.

"We'll work on team name in a bit… hrm… Team AkaMiho?" she threw out, Akami dropping his head in the crook of her arm.

"Please don't…" Akami said.

"Well, you come up with a name, then!" Miho demanded. "You're my teammate! You gotta pull your weight!"

Before Akami could refuse her, the lights in the gym started to dim, leaving only a spotlight on the stage The students turned to the stage, seeing a podium rise up from a hole in the center, Akira standing behind it. Akira confusedly looked around as everyone stared at her before grabbing a set of flashcards from the podium and straightening them.

"Um… hello, fellow classmates. It is often believed that to get ahead in the world, that you must be friendless and fight only for yourself. However, we here at Enoshima University believe that teamwork, cooperation and most of all friendship are the keys to great prosperity…?" Akira said, cocking her eyebrow slightly. Her eyes scanned through the flashcards, tossing aside card after card. "Man, he really wanted to milk this whole thing, didn't he?" she muttered as she finally got the card she wanted. "...Aha! Here we go! With that said, welcome to the First Annual Enoshima University Friendship Relay… trademark?"

"Yup! Trademark. Gotta get those copyrights fast or else someone will take em." Monokuma said, appearing by her side.

"Hey! I never signed off the rights to my Friendship Relay!" Akira shouted.

"Well, maybe next time bring the Ultimate Lawyer to argue your case! Now then, I've prepared a very special Relay for all of you. IIIIIIIITTTTT'S FRIENDSHIP TIME!"


	26. Chapter 3: Daily Life 5

Chapter 3: Hula Hula, Monokuma. Daily Life 5, Dunk Edition

"AAWWWW YEH!" Hana shouted with excitement as small Monokumas began to wheel out basketball racks along the painted outline of the half basketball court in the gym. Monokuma popped out and back in, wearing a red sweatband on his head, a black-and white jersey numbered 01, with KUMA written over the top of it.

"The Friendship Relay is split into three events! Six teams of friends will compete in the events, getting points based on how they played. Ranking 1st will net you five points, with all follow-up teams getting a point lower until sixth place which awards you no points. And may God have mercy on your soul." Monokuma began, Kenji raising his hand slowly. "Kenji, you have a question?"

"Yeah, aren't there only five teams?" he asked.

"Hmmmm… yes, it would appear we're missing something." Monokuma said, rubbing a paw against his chin, turning his head to Akira. "Akira, where's your partner?" he asked. Akira's eyes widened briefly as she rushed off, leaving the gym. "Well, let's get back to the rules, then. At the end of the Friendship Relay, the winning team will receive a fabulous prize! Second and third place will receive less fabulous but still lovely prizes and the rest of you get NOTHING!" he shouted, spinning a ball on his paw, but it spun twice and fell off. 

"The first event will be a three-point shootout. We have five sets of basketball racks, five balls to a rack. Each shot you throw is a three-pointer, and each team gets two runs, one for each player. Each player will get 90 seconds to make these shots, so don't dawdle! The team with the most points wins. Now, the first team to go will be-" Monokuma began when the gym doors suddenly burst open.

"Found her!" Akira cried out as she dragged Reiko into the gym. Akira was dressed in her police jacket, a sweatband under her cap, a pair of shorts and sneakers. Reiko sighed, looking away from Akira as she went inside.

"Let go of me, Akira! You look like an idiot." Reiko complained.

"I'm dressed for basketball C'mon, Reiko! Time to get rowdy! Whoo! I'm excited to start the dunking of people! Go team!" Akira said, giving off an excited clap of her hands. Reiko simply glared at the Ultimate Police Cadet before sighing and meeting with the others.

"I guess by elimination, Reiko's team mate is Akira! Now everyone rooound up, and we'll behind shooting some hoops!" Monokuma announced, passing a ball to Hana, who easily caught it.

"We'll start with the prodigy, though… To make things fair, I suggest a handicap." Monokuma continued, Hana tilting her head slightly at his announcement.

"Huh. What kinda handicap, bear dude?" Hana asked, and then a second monokuma with a 2 on his jersey tied a hand behind her back, by wrapping the rope around her waist.

"You're shootin' hoops with one hand!" He said with a pump of his fist, Hana looking at the scoreboard, a 90 second countdown appeared on the timer. "Just say ready when you wanna start, Okamoto." he said with a grin.

She reached her hand to the top of one of the basketballs, glaring softly at him. "I was born ready, dude." Hana replied with a determined smile on her face. Monokuma blew the whistle, and the hoop shooting began. Despite being one handed, Hana was a miracle worker with that basketball. Sinking it nearly every single time without hitting the rim or the backboard. She sunk 5 shots, ran to the more difficult shooting positions, then sunk more shots, her motion was fluid, a quick grab, then a small leap for the perfect angle.

"W-we are so boned." Yukata stammered, a hand against his head out of shock. With 22 seconds left on the clock, Hana landed all 25 3 pointers, for a total score of 75.

"Yeh! Get dunked! Get dunked! Get dunked! GET SUPER DUNKED! Kobe! LeBron! Bird! Jordan!" Hana shouted as she lapped the other teams with her arms pumping, making sure everyone had been informed that they were in the position to get dunked, she ran over to Haru, getting a resounding high five from him, as the basketballs got reset by a bunch of scrambling Minikumas so that there were 25 balls ready yet again.

"Go Haru! All you have to do is not blow it." Hana said, getting her hand untied and cheering him on as he walked up, stretching his shoulders as Kiko rode atop his head.

"Right. I got this! We're keepin' that lead, Hana!" Haru said as he grabbed the first ball. He was clearly not as good as Hana. Most of his shots were successful, but he was rather slow and took a lot of time to aim his shots. His height gave him the edge to get in the shots, but many had not felt better about his misses given the perfect score Hana had set. In total, he had managed to land 15 shots out of his 18 tries, Kiko jumping off his head on the last shot to give it a light headbutt toward the hoop. The shot went in, Kiko letting out an excited bark as she landed on the floor. "Hah! Good shot, Kiko!"

"Alright! You didn't blow it, Haru!" Hana exclaimed, jumping up to give Haru five while Monokuma totaled up their scores.

"And Team Best Team has set the standard with 120 points!" Monokuma announced, Kenji groaning in response.

"He really went with that name…" Kenji said, sinking his head down.

"Now, let's move on to Yu-Ku-Do." Monokuma said, everyone staring at him in confusion. Yukata slowly walked up.

"You mean me and Airi, right?" he asked.

"That's your team! Get ready to shoot!" Monokuma ordered, Yukata turning to Airi.

"Maybe you should go first. I don't wanna embarrass the team." he suggested. Airi nodded and readied herself at the first rack. She replicated Hana's movements almost perfectly, except for the fact none of the balls were actually making it into the hoop.

"Why isn't this working? I'm matching Hana perfectly." Airi said to herself, which resulted in Hana shouting at her.

"YOU'RE LIKE A FOOT TALLER THAN ME! The arc is entirely different! Stop pretending you're me, you're not!" Hana complained, Airi sighed, going for a completely different shooting style, underhanding them toward the hoop, and actually doing a bit better. She managed to finish all five spots, but only got about 8 shots in the hoop.

"24 points for Airi Kudo! That's… a thing!" Monokuma announced. "Let's see if Yukata can do any better!" Monokuma said, Airi folding her arms and walking off in a huff as Yukata clenched a fist in determination.

"Airi needs me to win, I got this! Even if it's… technically not possible to beat Hana's score." Yukata said, dribbling a ball idly before the whistle was blown. Yukata was skill taking shots was impressive! He sunk the first 5, then made the next 4, with one bouncing off the rim. When Hana began to cheer him… His lack of athleticism started to take over.

His breathing labored, and he had trouble making the shots, either completely missing, or bouncing off the backboard. "D-damn it. I'm getting tired!" He complained, lobbing another ball for a complete miss.

"Pace yourself, Yukata!" Haru shouted up at him, Yukata a bit too focused on trying to throw basketballs than heed Haru's advice. He couldn't pace himself with so little time left on the clock. He ended with only 9 shots made out of 20. "Damn it… I thought I was in better shape than that." he complained, as Monokuma blew his whistle.

"And a big fat 51 for Yu-Ku-Do! Looks like the heart of the cards doesn't matter if you're playing basketball, and you're a fatty." Monokuma joked, getting a sharp glare from the tired Yukata, currently hands on his knees and taking deep breaths.

"Hey! I'm… I'm just bit a it doughy!" he said, Airi patting him on the back.

"Don't feel too bad, Yukata. I screwed up and you did a good job on picking up the slack." she said reassuringly.

"Alright, that sets the low bar! Now, let's have Team Hat give it a go!" Monokuma declared, the teams having to decipher which team that was. They looked around until they spotted Akira and Reiko, seeing their police caps.

"Guess that's us, partner! Let's get us some…" Akira said, digging in her pocket and pulling out a slip of paper. "Sick… Firey… Dynamite slamjams." she read aloud from the paper in her hand, before tucking it back in her pocket, the cringe was palpable in the room.

"...I hate you so fuckin' much right now." Reiko complained as Akira happily marched her way to the starting point. She grabbed her ball and got ready to begin. Monokuma blew the whistle, and Akira got started. She had a pretty good pace, but always seemed to wiggle in place on her toes before shooting the ball. This minor gesture pissed Reiko off, but she wasn't sure exactly why. Every few shots, one would bounce off.

Within the time, she landed 17 shots out of 21, the wiggle she was doing meant she couldn't get all the shots in time. "A good showing by Akira, now let's see how Reiko handles the… oh." Monokuma trailed off as Reiko grabbed a rack of basketballs, dragging it with her.

"EAT SHIT!" she shouted, grabbing a ball and slamming it against a wall as hard as she could. The other Monokuma just shrugged and blew the whistle to start the timer. As Reiko just slammed balls against the back wall with gritted teeth.

"P-put your hips into it, Reiko! Make sure you jump a little when you sh-" A ball whizzed past Akira's face, slamming the wall behind her.

"Shaddup, you fuckin' nerd! I'm busy!" Reiko screamed, launching several more balls at the wall, and actually getting one or two in while pretty much doing the equivalent of flipping the table on the basketball shootout.

"FUCK. BASKETBALL. AND FUCK YOU TOO!" she shouted, throwing the last ball and getting a third shot into the hoop.

"W-well… that was a thing. A perfect 20 for Team Hat, putting them at 60 points... though I should probably dock you points for putting holes in the wall." Monokuma pondered. "Minus five points!" he declared, Reiko throwing a ball at him, bouncing off his head.

"Hey, fuck you!" Reiko shouted.

"Hey! Don't throw balls at the Dean or you lose ten points!" Monokuma barked in response, Reiko rearing back another basketball before Akira swiped it away.

"No! You're gonna cost us more points! We could end up in the negatives!" Akira warned, Reiko turning around and bopping Akira on the head with a basketball, almost knocking off her hat.

"You suck." Reiko said tersely, before tucking her hands back in her long black jacket and storming off. Akira rubbed her head, adjusting her hat back on her head.

"The things I do for friendship." Akira complained.

"Alright! That's half of the teams. Now let's see if the other half can beat those scores! Monokuma announced, as Setsuki took her black beanie off her head, revealing her long silver hair.

"Yeah! Let's jam!" She said, grabbing a ball and dribbling it a few times. The whistle went off, and Setsuki began to do some absurd looking shots. Lobbing some over her head, or after a frontflip. It looked… stupid, like out of some saturday morning cartoon, but the even more depressing part was that it was working, she was about as accurate as Akira, getting 4 out of every 5 shots, but with stupid jumps, spins and cartwheels thrown in for literally no reason or strategic advantage.

She managed to land 20 shots out of 25. "Whoo! We're taking second! It's all you, Yukes!" Setsuki said, fistbumping Yukiji as he walked up to the refilled racks. After a few quick dribbles, he took his first shot, missing the hoop entirely. Each shot came up short as Yukiji lightly threw the balls into the air.

"I can't do it…" Yukiji said, looking down as a missed ball rolled along the floor. He only had one rack of balls left and had only gotten one in out of 20.

"FUCK THAT HOOP UP, YUKIJI! PUT SOME GASOLINE INTO YOUR THROWING! It's not a person! Don't give a shit! Throw it hard!" Reiko shouted, startling Yukiji into grabbing the next ball. He threw this one harder, managing to sink it in. He kept at it, sinking in three more shots, the last ball bouncing off the backboard and hitting the floor.

"Yeah! You did it, Yukiji! That's another 15 points for us!" Setsuki said, grabbing Yukiji and ruffling his hair.

"Yay!" Yukiji said cheerfully.

"Well, that's 75 points and second place for Team SetsuKiji! Now it's time for Team AkaMiho to make a few shots!" Monokuma said, Akami's head dropping at that.

"He really put that as our team name?" he said as Miho ran up and grabbed her first ball. Her first shot looked more like a cannonball erupting and it slammed hard against the backboard, rattling it. The ball missed the hoop entirely as it dropped to the floor, Miho grabbing the next and doing the same, this one going in. She got to all 25 balls, battering the backboard and hoop, leaving several dents in the metal backboard. In all, Miho got 12 balls in, though Hana was still ranting about her form.

"The goal of the game isn't to smash to backboard! The hoop, Miho! The hoop! You put the ball in the HOOP!" she shouted, Miho turning to grab Hana by the shirt and lift her up. "H-hey! What are you- PUT ME DOWN!"

"Shut up or I'm gonna throw you in the hoop! You're small enough for me to piledrive your beanpole ass right through it!" Miho shouted back, turning heel once more, this time on Hana.

"Who are you calling small?! I'll karate dive right onto you! Who will be the hoop-er and the hoop-ee then, huh!?" Hana shouted, despite half of her sentence not being words. Akami walked past the two currently in a shouting match, grabbing a ball and lazily tossing it at the hoop, missing. He kept up this half-hearted effort, missing each shot.

"Oh look at that. I'm missing the hoop." Akami said, clearly bored sounding.

"Oi! Akami! Get your head in the game! Stop being shitty on purpose!" Miho shouted, dropping Hana onto the floor. Hana landed on her butt, growling at Miho as she got up.

"Whatever…" Akami drawled out, missing another shot.

"If you don't make at least six shots, I'll wipe your make-up offa your face! You got it, Freckles?!" Miho shouted back. Akami's eyes widened with fury as he grabbed his next ball. He put everything he could into it and sunk it in, following it up with another shot and another. He got in six before the time ran out. "That's what I'm talking about! Way to- ack!" Miho said as she dodged an oncoming basketball.

"Don't talk about my freckles!" Akami said, tossing another basketball at her. "I will cut a bitch!" he shouted, in a fervor. Haru went to hold Akami back from going on a rampage, grabbing under Akami's arms and lifting off the floor. Akami kicked at the air, trying to get at Miho. "Lemme go! Lemme go!" he shrieked out as Haru carried him off. "All of my hate! All of it!"

"Let's go get you some applesauce or something, Akami." Haru muttered, leaving the gym with the struggling make-up artist.

"...Okay then, that leaves one more. Team KenShiro, can you two secure a spot or will you suffer a most humiliating loss?" Monokuma asked.

"Oooh, ya hear that? We're Team KenShiro! Sound cool, don't it?" Kenji asked, trying to get into the spirit of friendship, though Shiro just looked at him with disgust.

"Just play the game, Taisei. The sooner we are done with this farce, the better." Shiro said, Kenji sighing and heading up to take his shots. Kenji made good progress at the start, landing in three of his first five shots. His time spent practicing with Hana must've done something, because he knew he wasn't this good before. He followed up with another 3 out of 5. However, as he got to the third rack, Kenji began to feel a stinging in his hands, like he could feel every bump of the basketball stinging the flesh of his injured hands.

"G-god damn it." He muttered, dropping a ball on the ground and grasping his fingers in pain. In spite of the burning sensation, he picked up another ball and kept going. He had to push himself further. He dribbled through the pain, sinking in another shot. It soon became harder to get the balls in as the pain would rush to his balls as he was readying the shot and force him to drop the ball. In the end, he had ten shots and he felt like his hands were on fucking fire.

"Monokuma, does this gym have a sink!?" Kenji shouted, clutching his fists as hard as he could. Monkuma just swung an arm in the air like he was pretending to play an invisible guitar, before pointing behind Kenji. "Thank you!" Kenji shouted before running off, dragging Shiro with him.

"I was thanked! By Kenji! Oh they grow up so fast…" Monokuma said fondly, with a sarcastic chuckle added at the end.

Kenji turned on the water of the double sink, the cool water flushing his bandages and causing the pain to subside.

"Taisei, what did you do to your hands to leave them in such a state?" Shiro asked.

"Ahhh... well, I was protecting Hana from an explosion. Monokuma blew up, you see." Kenji said, flexing his fingers as the water soothed him.

"He… exploded?" Shiro asked, confused. Kenji grabbed a towel, wrapping it around both of his hands as he looked back at Shiro.

"Yeah, Hana and I were searching the edges of the school to see if there was a way out. Monokuma blew himself up for some stupid reason." Kenji explained.

"So… did you find a way out?" Shiro asked, turning curious at the idea of escape.

"No, Monokuma has a barrier around the whole campus. And it's pretty powerful. That's how he blew himself up." Kenji explained as they left the bathroom.

"I see… but why use such a barrier to keep us in?" Shiro pondered.

"Uhm… he said it was cheaper than building a giant cage." Kenji said, pausing to make sure his lie came out correctly. He wasn't sure Shiro wanted to hear the real reason or not.

"Ah, I figured he would have some kind of excuse like that. It seems like his expenses don't matter, and keeping us here is a priority for him. I would assume he only blew himself up because he had a replacement, right?" Shiro said, Kenji nodding.

"Right. Hell, he probably did it because he had a replacement." Kenji said, before the others went to check on him.

"Yo, Kenji! Shiro's up!" Hana said, lightly lobbing a ball at Shiro's chest, who just glared down at her in annoyance.

"I'm not 'up.' Okamoto. And I'm not enthusiastic about this either." Shiro sneered, pushing his glasses up and walking to the first rack of basketballs.

"You ready, Kiruma? Reaaaady? Steaaaady?" Monokuma said, raising his hand into the air, hopping gently on one foot. "Go!" Monokuma shouted with enthusiasm. Shiro immediately threw the ball away and walked off the court, dragging Kenji along, causing Kenji to stumble away.

"W-where are you doing, Dude!?" Yukata shouted. "You got basketballs n' stuff to throw!" He continued, but Shiro ignored him. Kenji leaned the other way, trying to counter his weight and drag Shiro back, but Shiro wasn't even paying attention to him.

"Y-you asshole! We're trying to be friends, and you're just walking off like a baby!?" Kenji complained, feeling his shoes squeak as they slid on the floor. Shiro stomped both feet on every step, planting it and making him hard to stop.

"I don't give a damn." Shiro said, tucking his free hand into his pocket to look at Kenji, disdainfully. "Why even bother with nonsense like this? I've been handcuffed to a screaming, crying dog of a human being and now I'm forced to play sports? I played lacrosse and soccer, not this sham of a game." Shiro ranted, but Kenji just grit his teeth and yanked on his chain.

"Are you kidding me!? Why do you resist ANY attempt at someone being nice to you!? Does it give you a hardon just to tell people less important than you to fuck off? What kind of douchebag are you!?" Kenji shouted, balling his fists. Shiro calmly wiped his glasses with his sleeve, putting them back on his face and replying.

"Because I don't need to answer to any of you. You have no authority over me." Shiro said, Kenji throwing a punch. Shiro sidestepped him, causing Kenji to fall onto the ground, pulling Shiro's handcuff and sending Shiro ontop of him into a pile, punctuated by the sound of chains hitting the floor. Just then, Monokuma's timer went off.

"Aaaand FINISHED! Shiro got a big fat zero! At least he dodged Kenji's punch, won't get him any points though." Monokuma announced, chuckling at his own joke. "That puts Team KenShiro at the bottom with 30 points! Taking the lead, to no surprise, is Team Best Team with 120 points! Trailin' in second place is Team Setsukiji, with a whopping 75 points! At a total of 55 points, Team Hat! And eeehhh… No one cares about anyone else. I'm getting bored of basketball, it's dumb." Monokuma said, throwing off his headband and jersey.

"There we go, O.G. Monokuma. Much better!" he said with glee, but Hana took offense at his comments.

"Hey! I take offense to that! Basketball is neat, and you're the one who's dumb!" Hana said, getting Setsuki to begin shouting from behind her, grasping her face in sheer shock at Hana's statement.

"OOOOOOHHH BUUURRRRN!" Setsuki shouted, but everyone just looked at her… confused as to why she was shouting so much.

"I guess it's a double act thing. I didn't think it was that funny though. I've done waaaay better double acts than that!" Monokuma said. "Now then, the first challenge of the relay has, finally, come to an end! Meet me at... uhh... where are we going again?" Monokuma asked, Akira just sighed, looking away from Kenji and Shiro scuffling on the ground.

"Yukiji's lab. The next section is… a chess tournament." she explained.

"Ah, right! Yukiji's lab! Everyone get moving!" Monokuma said before vanishing. Before the students headed for the labs, they stopped at the fight between Kenji and Shiro. Akira moved in first, grabbing Kenji off the floor and pulling him to his feet.

"Kenji, get a hold of yourself!" Akira demanded as Reiko yanked Shiro off the floor. "This is not what the Friendship Relay is for!"

"I'll pull out all his damn hair!" Kenji shouted, as Akira sighed.

"I don't think we can stop them from fighting." Reiko said, grabbing Shiro by the shoulders and standing him back up onto his feet.

"I'm not done with him!" Kenji shouted, standing back up and trying to get between the two girls… then Akira planted a kick right between his legs.

"Cut it out!" she shouted, as Kenji yelped, hitting the floor and clutching his groin with a seethe.

"Unhand me, Ono!" Shiro demanded, attempting to shove his way from her, but she was much stronger than him, and kept her grip tight.

"Nooo can do, dipshit. You clearly act like two cats fighting over one pussy. And that ain't my fault!" Reiko shouted at him, wrestling him into her grip to wrangle him.

"Akira kicked me in the dick! Why did Akira kick me in the dick!?" Kenji cried out, tears streaming from his eyes, Akira covered her mouth and squeaked.

"I'm sorry! I didn't know what else to do, so I panicked!" Akira said, bending down to his level to apologize to him.

"YOU PANICKING INVOLVES KICKING ME IN THE DICK?!" Kenji shouted, hoping his future children would be okay from Akira's dick-based offense.

"I didn't mean to I'm sorrrryyy! Don't hate me!" Akira said, tears streaming from her own face as everyone watched, flabbergasted.

"This is somehow getting even more stupid," Airi complained, pinching her brow to fight an oncoming migraine.

"I guess it's one of those moments where something seemed like a good idea for about one second, before you could actually realize how stupid your idea actually is." Yukata observed all the stupid that was going on, rubbing the back of his head from feeling awkward.

"Well, as fun as it is to watch Akira knock Kenji in the plums, I-" Miho began.

"I THOUGHT YOU WERE A COP!" Kenji shouted, clearly ignoring what anyone else was saying because of the searing pain.

"I'm a cadet, actually…" Akira said, tucking her hat harder on her head to try and cover her face. "Oh, Miho? Can you continue?" Akira asked, trying her best to ignore the fact she attacked Kenji right in the dick.

"...I'm gonna go see if Akami's settled down. If not, I might need to give him an Akira Kazue Special myself." Miho said, laughing as she headed for the dining hall. Hana followed after her, needing to catch up with Haru. Akira reached out to Miho in a cry of frustration.

"Please don't make kicking people in the groin a thing! Please! It was an accident, Miho! Listen to meee!"

"...What am I doing here?" Yukiji asked as he watched this unfold in front of him.


	27. Chapter 3: Daily Life 6

Chapter 3: Hula Hula, Monokuma Daily Life 6, Chess... Edition?

Miho and Hana entered the Dining Hall, spotting Haru and Akami at a table covered with small plastic cups, emptied of their applesauce, Akami was contently sitting with a spoon hanging from his mouth as he turned to look at who was staring at him. "Oh, hey Miho. Hey Hana." Akami said.

"Uh… you doin' alright, Akami?" Miho asked, trying to count all the empty applesauce cups, made harder as Kiko was running around the table with an empty cup on her head.

"All is well. My vengeance has been sated." Akami said peacefully, spoon bouncing gently on every word he spoke. Haru chuckled heartily and gave him a clap on the back.

"See? Applesauce does the trick!" Haru said. "Whenever I was in a bad mood, my mom would hand me a jar of applesauce with lots of cinnamon stirred in." he explained, flashing a big thumbs up. 

"...Didn't think friggin' applesauce was the solution to this problem we were having, but hey. Cool I guess." Miho said, scratching the back of her head.

"Did you say JAR of applesauce?" Hana asked.

"Hell yeah. I like it cinnamon-y as shit. That's how I roll, Hana!" Haru said, puffing out his chest with pride.

"Is it like when a girl is going through with a breakup on TV and they just go whole hog on some ice cream, but if you have a dong, it's with applesauce?" Miho said, puzzled. Haru shrugged his shoulders.

"I like applesauce, okay? Stop making it weird." Haru said as Akami got up, sucking the last remnants of applesauce from his spoon.

"So, we're playing chess next right? Let's get this over with, this whole day has felt like 2 weeks." Akami said, heading off. Miho followed after her teammate as they left for the entrance hall.

"Welp, guess we better get going, right partner?" Hana said as aru got up, collecting empty cups with Kiko.

"Sure, lemme just clean all this up. Didn't think the little dude could eat so much applesauce." Haru said as Kiko stacked empty cups together.

The students filed slowly into Yukiji's lab, the stark perfectly white walls lit blue with fluorescent lights, filling the quiet room with a humming sound. Monokuma was standing on a small podium wearing a pure white suit and a black tie, pulling out a handkerchief from the pocket and dabbing sweat off his brow as the rest of the students rolled in. Yukiji, Akira, Yukata, Airi, and Shiro were in the room, and by handcuff, Kenji was dragged along with Shiro, and was waiting for the others to arrive.

"Ah yes, fellow chess enthusiasts! I hereby welcome you today to the very first Monokuma chess invitational!" Monokuma announced, adjusting his glasses that were clearly just ones he stole out of Shiro's dorm room.

"...Are those -my- glasses?" Shiro asked, glaring at Monokuma. Kenji tried to suppress his laughter at this.

"I needed a prop, ya dingus. You're the only one here who wears glasses." Monokuma mentioned, Shiro then took a moment to glance around the room at everyone else, which was punctuated by Miho speaking up.

"Oh shit, he's right. Shiro's the only peep with glasses." Miho pointed out, Shiro giving a resigned sigh in response.

"Now then, as I was saying… Chess invitational. Now typical tournaments are round robin, where each opponent battles each other opponent until the wins and losses are scored but… Seriously, I got a Luau tomorrow and I'm busting my haggard lil butt on that, so we'll speed things up a notch! With knockout rules!" Monokuma spoke, hopping on his two feet and pointing his fingers to a projection on the screen.

"Each student does have to play another student. But… If you lose, even once… You will never play in the Monokuma Chess Invitational ever again! This will keep happening, until one team remains. If you're thinking 'wait, didn't we use a point system last time?' Well don't worry. Also, shut up!" Monokuma spoke the picture changing again showing the current scores.

"The scores are tallied based on the teams combined piece eliminations. So winning more games, means you've eliminated more chess pieces? See? I figured it out. Ain't I a smartie? By the way, you're welcome Akira. This whole thing is stupid, but now we can at least pretend we have rules now, 'kay?" Monokuma asked, Akira growling at him.

"So… We're gonna have the best scoring team… Vs the worst scoring one. Haru and Hana, versus Kenji and Shiro. Best of three! Losers don't come back! Get things going before I get bored and leave!" Monokuma declared, Haru and Hana high-fiving as Hana took a seat at the table.

"Taisei. Do you know anything about the rules of chess?" Shiro asked, breaking his silence after the scuffle they had earlier. Kenji scratched his chin in thought, before turning back to him.

"I tried chess club in middle school, I didn't do great, but I did at least learn how to play the game." Kenji replied, Shiro crossing his gloved arm over to grip his wrist and stretch it, the handcuff was starting to itch.

"It would make sense to have you go first. The total score is based on number of pieces eliminated, so letting our weakest player go first means we can soften the blow and I can get us more points." Shiro continued, the two of them slowly walking to the other side of the table where Haru and Hana were sitting.

"Yeah! We're gonna do awesome!" Hana shouted with a joy in her voice, Haru met her with a big goofy grin.

"Ya know how to play chess!?" Haru exclaimed, excitedly, but Hana continued with her own grin, looking at the board and… her smile faded.

"Hell no. I have no idea what I'm doing." Hana mentioned, Haru suddenly growing sullen as well as they realized just how screwed they were.

"...Oh. Well then." Haru said, looking around the room and back at Kenji, who was sitting in the players seat, ready to begin.

"Let's just hope Kenji is somehow so bad that the first chess piece he touches explodes." Hana suggested. The two friends shook hands before beginning, Kenji's moves were basic, but if he made an illegal move, Monokuma would hit a buzzer and force him to try the move again. Hana's moves were a cascade of buzzing, as everything she tried wasn't even a legal move. "Damn it! Stop buzzing me! Whaddya mean I can't Alleyoop my knight over my rook!?" Hana shouted, Monokuma just sighing some as he hit the buzzer again.

"This is like if NASA asked someone to blueprint the ship that will take us to Mars with their finger paintings… Or like asking a kitty cat to end world hunger, not even feasible..." Monokuma struggled to describe just how poorly Hana played chess, Yukiji had to look away because it felt like the sport itself was being… ruined somehow by her playstyle. Setsuki helped by covering his eyes with her hands.

By the end of the game, Kenji had won out over Hana, With checkmate signaling the final elimination, Kenji had only lost one piece, and that was because Monokuma pointed out that Hana could totally take that piece.

"Well… The lead was fun while it lasted. Sorry Haru." Hana apologize to her teammate, slowly getting out of her chair.

"Don't worry, Hana. I'm not gonna let Team Best Team down! I'm gonna beat both Kenji and Shiro!" Haru shouted as he sat down, pointing a finger at Kenji.

"Bring it on, Haru! You're gonna get… checkmated?" Kenji asked, turning to Yukiji who simply hid himself in his shirt. The pieces were reset and once the game began, Haru tapped a piece and then put his finger onto a space. Kiko walked onto the board, moving around pieces to grab the pieces Haru pointed to and moving it onto the space his finger was laid on.

"Hey! Get the mutt off the board! She's gonna pee all over it!" Monokuma shouted.

"You implyin' I didn't train her to pee somewhere else!? How fucking dare you!" Haru shouted across the board, causing Kenji to flinch from the sudden anger. "Kiko's a saint!" 

Kiko let out a few defensive barks before going back to guiding the pieces. Despite the unorthodox playstyle, Haru proved to be a more formidable opponent than Hana, eliminating a good amount of Kenji's pieces. After the fifth piece, Shiro cleared his throat.

"The knight on the outside right is open for capture." Shiro mentioned, but Hana immediately slammed both her hands on the table.

"Hey hey hey! Monokuma, is he allowed to give Kenji advice!?" she asked, Kiko putting back Haru's tipped over pieces.

"Ehh I don't care." Monokuma said, casually filing his claws and not even paying attention to the game at this point.

"If I am forced to participate in this Friendship Relay, then I assume cooperation is allowed. Now then, capture Yamada's knight." Shiro demanded. Kenji shrugged and went along with it, after a few glances at the board, Kenji realized something.

"T-that checked him. I checked Haru!" Kenji said, actually getting excited by the idea of winning, despite partially playing a dog during this game of chess. However, Haru began to change his strategy after Kenji said that.

"Taisei, don't tell people that you put them in check. You need to strike your opponent while they are unaware." Shiro groaned out, putting a hand to his temple. Kenji chuckled sheepishly and kept at it. After a few more turns and another lost piece, Kenji finally checkmated Haru's king, taking ten pieces in total.

"Well, what a turnaround! 22 total pieces for Team KenShiro and 7 for Team Best Team, knocking them out of the game!" Monokuma announced. "And we still haven't seen Shiro play a game yet! Now we have Team SetsuKiji vs. Yu-Ku-Do!"

"I'll take the field first, Yukes." Setsuki offered, sitting down at the table and putting her goggles on. Yukata took a seat across from her as Minikumas reset the table. Setsuki's first move was to march every pawn forward, ignoring the repeated buzzing from Monokuma. "Alright, I move the front guard forward and issue a challenge." Setsuki announced, Yukiji staring in horror at this gross violation of the rules.

"Setsuki… you first move can't be eight moves! You can only move one piece!" Yukiji cried out, his voice raising with incredulity.

"It's a show of solidarity, Yukiji! We are one, we are one and we won't die young!"Setsuki shouted, making combat noises as she moved them forward again… and then Monokuma had to get up and move them back by hand.

"The amount of stupid that's going on is going to give me an aneurysm."Monokuma said, voice strained with frustration. Setsuki finally relented and only moved one pawn at a time, the game commencing as normal. However, Setsuki insisted on playing with a playstyle more befitting a tabletop roleplaying game than chess; knights were claimed to have a spear to "impale" pieces two spaces away, rooks need to be taken from all sides to be captured, if a bishop captures a piece, all of her pieces that were taken by that piece were "healed" and brought back to the field, if the king was captured, the queen would take control and need to be captured for full victory. Eventually, Monokuma took to buzzing Setsuki whenever she explained her new rules.

"Stop buzzing me! I'm trying to explain how three pawns make a rook!" Setsuki shouted as Monokuma drowned her out again.

"Then stop being wrong! We're trying to have civilized games of chess, not a Mazes & Monsters campaign!" Monokuma shot back. "Play the game properly or your team is disqualified, got it?!"

"To be fair, Mazes & Monsters is a far out game." Yukata interjected quietly.

"No cheap references! I'll disqualify your team too!" Monokuma shouted. The two returned to the chess game and Setsuki dropped her special rules, but she would react dramatically whenever one of her pieces was taken.

"No! Cpt. Pharrics! He had 3 kids, he had a family who loved him! Why? Whyyyy?!" Setsuki dramatically cried, arms up into the sky as Yukata just blinked and observed this happening.

"Your pawn died. It's not a huge deal…" Yukata noted. This display of theatrics went on until the game ended with Yukata winning checkmate after claiming 10 pieces to Setsuki's six. Yukiji breathed a sigh of relief as he finally took his seat, giving a half-hearted high-five to Setsuki as she tagged out. The Minikumas rearranged the board curiously for this game; Yukiji's side had half its pawns missing, exposing his backfield comprising of his king, a knight, bishop and rook.

"Much like Team Best Team in the basketball game, Team SetsuKiji will be playing with a handicap, and it's not the fact that Setsuki's on the team." Monokuma explained, getting an annoyed glare from Setsuki. "Yukiji will be playing with half of his pieces missing. Can the Ultimate Chessmaster prove his skills when put under pressure or will Yukata sweep Team SetsuKiji out of the game?" Monokuma asked.

Yukiji reached into his pocket, handing a handful of Monocoins to Setsuki. "I'd like a couple of KitKats and a bottle of milk." he requested. Setsuki headed for the vending machine in the corner as the game began. Yukata, emboldened by his previous victory, went straight for Yukiji's king. However, as the game went on, Yukata saw several of his pieces were taken and trapped into corners, making it nearly impossible to move or even steal another piece without Yukiji taking an extra one or two as punishment. Yukiji nibbled softly on his KitKat as he worked out his next move, taking piece after piece without a single piece lost.

"Checkmate." Yukiji said, everyone watching in awe as he wiped out all of Yukata's pieces.

"Well shit, guess the pasty-ass nerd knows how to fuckin' play." Reiko said.

"Don't feel too bad, Yukata. I've played chess against a supercomputer, and still won 4-7 before… You'll get better if you keep playing." Yukiji said reassuringly.

"Wait, you played against a supercomputer?" Yukata asked, Yukiji nodding and finishing off another bite of KitKat.

"Mhm. It was actually programmed specifically to challenge me. Reflektor is what they called it, the main problem was it was based on a snapshot of me 3 months before. And since I'm always trying to improve.. I had a bit of an edge on my past self." he explained as Yukata and Airi switched seats.

"Well, let's see if you can outdo your past self from five minutes ago." she said as the the pieces were rearranged, Yukiji still handicapped. Yukiji was confused by her statement, so he decided to ask.

"What do you mean?" Yukiji asked, and Airi quietly cracked her gloved knuckles before she spoke.

"I have something called perfect memory, it's a bit different than a photographic one… I can talk, act, or perform exactly like someone else by just observing them, and I've just figured out how you play." Airi said with a cool air of confidence in her voice as the game began. That confidence began to falter as while her strategy was a perfect replica of Yukiji's gameplan, Yukiji knew how to counter it, sacrificing pawns at vital points to create openings to capture Airi's pieces.

"Ah, I see what Chimon is doing…" Shiro commented, thumb rested under his chin.

"Huh? What's he doing?" Kenji asked.

"He cannot hope to win without losses, so he's offering his lesser pieces to guarantee a checkmate." Shiro explained.

"But isn't that risky? I mean, he's got less to work with than Airi, he can't get rid of too many pieces." Kenji said, Shiro nodding in response.

"True, but Chimon knows that. He's been picking his losses carefully. There's a chance that he had this planned before the game started." Shiro replied, eyes on Yukiji's pieces. Yukiji quietly spun the knight on the tip of his finger, taking a drink of milk.

"The thing is, Airi… Copying me won't make you win. There isn't a perfect strategy. The ability to change strategies at a moment's notice is the key to real victory. If you plan on copying me, I already know how to counter it." Yukiji explained as he took Airi's second rook.

"Oh sure, you tell me that now with the same amount of pieces... " Airi snarked, looking at what he had left.

"Just offering some criticism." he said, spinning a pawn between his fingers as it reached the other end of the board, so he promoted it to a bishop. A few more turns passed, Airi capturing one more pawn, but ultimately losing her remaining pieces and being put in check.

"And checkmate again." Yukiji said, finishing his second milk bottle. Airi just sighed, standing back up and dusting off her jacket before returning to the background, where she chose to remain.

"Iiiiit's over for team Yu-Ku-Do! They managed a total of 13 pieces to Team SetsuKiji's 38 pieces, putting Team SetsuKiji in the lead!" Monokuma declared. "And to round out the first round will be Team Hat vs. Team AkaMiho!"

"Yeah! Team Hat!" Akira said, pumping her fist in excitement, while Reiko couldn't possibly have given less of a shit than the entire recorded history of the planet.

"Go get 'em, I guess. I forfeit." Reiko said, walking off and out of the room.

"Oh no, ya don't! You're playing chess! You're in the Killer Queens, aren't ya!" Akira shouted, chasing after her teammate.

"Fuck you!" Reiko shouted. After a few minutes of chase, Akira came back empty-handed, taking her seat.

"Damn it, Reiko…" she muttered as Miho pat her on the shoulder.

"Ah, cheer up, Akira. You can probably beat us both solo. Chess isn't my thing. I'm the Strike Queen, not the Chess Queen, ya know?" she joked, getting a chuckle out of Akira.

"Thanks, good luck to you two." Akira said, as Miho sat down in front of her on the opposite side of the board, offering a little punch on her shoulder as they got ready to start. The chessboard quickly reassembling itself in front of the two of them as the game began.

"Shiiiit. I forgot how chess worked. Can we just play checkers or something?" Miho asked, rubbing the back of her head and looking at the board with one closed eye.

"We just watched five games. How do you not understand how this works?" Akami said, baffled at this claim..

"I wasn't watching! I was looking at other stuff, duh." Miho shouted, looking back at him as he took a step back to stay away from her wrath.

"This is a blank room with a chessboard, what could you possibly have been looking at!?" Akami questioned, his confusion growing.

"Wouldn't you like to know." Miho mentioned, before giving Akira a wink that turned her a deep shade of pink.

"N-not in front of my friends! Dammit, Miho!" Akira said, frustrated and more than bashful from the revelation. Miho just started laughing loudly, holding her gut from it hurting. She eventually calmed down, catching her breath.

"Akira... we _are_ your friends, you dork. We're all friends here and we don't need to keep secrets. Keeping secrets is what lead to the last murder." Miho said, putting her hand on top of Akira's. "Besides, I didn't say _what_ I was looking at, did I?" she teased, Akira's face heating up even more.

"You're the worst…" Akira muttered, Miho chuckling and taking her hand back. The game began, Akira taking the lead as things kicked off. She had played a few games with Yukiji before, including the game of potted plant chess, and while she wasn't anywhere near his level, she understood the basics enough. Miho, however, looked more like a confused and bored child, throwing pieces around with little care for strategy.

As Akira claimed pieces, Miho had more and more trouble actually getting any kind of advantage, until she finally said something. "I'll have to forfeit, Akira." Miho conceded, getting up.

"Huh? Really?" Akira said, tilting her head at this.

"Yeah, I'm not one for these kind of thinking games, ya know? I beat people up for a living. In this kinda situation, if I feel like I'm losing, I won't fight it." Miho said, turning over to Akami. "You're up, partner!"

Akami took Miho's place as the score was counted, Miho capturing 3 pieces while Akira had 8 before Miho forfeited. The reset of the board went faster thanks to the short length of the previous game. The game was more even between the two, Akira and Akami playing at around the same level. "Looks like you were paying attention." Akira joked.

"Look, it's hard to focus when I keep getting lost in your eyes." Miho shot back, causing Akira to blush again.

"Sh-shut up!" she said, looking away from her and trying to tuck her face deeper into her hat to cover some of her eyes, Akami wasn't paying attention, and was trying to think of what piece he was supposed to move next.

"C'mon…" Akami said, the focus of his eyes nearly burning a hole into the chessboard before finally moving his bishop to capture one of the pawns Akira moved forward while she was flustered by Miho.

"Yeah! Get her while she's distracted, Akami!" Miho cheered on her teammate, as Akira had a look of absolute shock on her face.

"Y-you were getting me flustered to make me make mistakes? You absolute jerk!" Akira shouted, her hat stuffed down to her eyebrows and a flush on her face. Miho began to cackle, grabbing her own stomach to stop her ribs from bursting out of her chest.

"You're such a dork, Akira~" Miho teased, as Akira looked back at the board with an annoyed huff from her nose as she tried her best to play, while occasionally looking at Miho to make sure she wasn't trying to mess with her. But something was wrong from last game, she was losing, and hard.

Akami already had 7 pieces captured, and Akira just had one taken, when she grabbed her knight and tried to move it deeper on the board, she saw Akami's meticulously trimmed eyebrows perk up, she realized she made a mistake.

"Did… you just move yourself into check?" Akami asked, with a slight tilt of his head. Akira gasped, grabbing her chess piece and trying to move it back to where it was, but it got a buzz from Monokuma.

"No take-backsies! Ya made your bed, now lay in it." Monokuma protested, as Akira sighed and sat back for Akami's next move, which made it checkmate. He hopped out of his seat, giving a squeak of joy out of his victory.

"I wiiiinnnn!" he shouted, Akira rubbing her face in her hands to try and get over the fact she just blew it pretty hard in about 5 minutes since she started playing.

"Yeah I deserve that." Akira said, sighing and getting up from her seat as Monokuma announced the final tally for her team.

"And Team Hat, which is pretty much just Akira at this point bows out with a resounding 12 points! AkaMiho are still in contention, with 13 points! Let's see how well they do in round two, with Team KenShiro's Kenji, vs Akami!" Monokuma joyously spoke, pointing over at the handcuffed Ultimate Volunteer.

"Here goes…" Kenji muttered to himself, taking Akira's seat as the board reset itself yet again.


	28. Chapter 3: Daily Life 7

Chapter 3: Hula Hula, Monokuma (Daily Life 7) 

Kenji sat down at the table and scooted it forward a few times to meet his opponent, who was quietly sitting with his hands on his lap while the chess pieces were arranged in front of the two. Kenji was on the black side of the board, so he was the one to start.

"For once, I think we have a pretty even match." Setsuki said, scratching the back of her head as the two quietly began to move pieces along the board. "I don't think either person is smart." she said, immediately getting an annoyed glare from the two of them, causing Setsuki to dive behind Yukiji for protection.

"Hide me, Chess man!" Setsuki cried out, hoping that Yukiji would provide something more to say but.. Yukiji just stepped away from her, exposing her to the glares again, Airi quietly shaking her head in disappointment.

"I didn't say that! Airi said that! Not me!" Setsuki said, but... her attempt to lie failed.

"Enough commentary from the peanut gallery. Make your move, Taisei." Shiro commanded. Kenji nodded and kept playing, eyes focused on Akami's pieces as he thought out his next move. When it came to tactics, they were weirdly similar in intelligence. In other words, average. Both took pieces at a deliberate pace, trading pawns.

"Hey, Akami. You wanna hurry up and lose already? These fluorescents are roasting me!" Miho groaned, pulling up her shirt and tossing it onto the floor, leaving her in a tight fitting bra and a pair of cropped jeans. "Ahhh, much better… dontcha think, Kenji?" she said with a teasing wink.

"Miho, fluorescent lights don't cause a lot of heat, incandescent bulbs do. That isn't how physics works, put your shirt on." Airi said, pinching the bridge of her nose.

"Shut up, Airi! I gotta turn on the charms to get Akami the win! Boobs are hella useful!" Miho shouted, unaware that Kenji had been ignoring her attempts at titillation. Akira, meanwhile, was redder than a tomato and reduced to shrieking gibberish.

"I NEED TO GO HOME NOW, BYE!" Akira shouted, making a dash for the door and running face first into it, sliding off and landing on the ground.

"Akira… Pull the door open, don't push it." Yukiji pointed out, a finger covered by a sleeve of his slightly too big shirt pointing at her.

"THANK YOU, YUKIJI!" Akira exclaimed before pulling open the door and running out of the lab.

"Miho, I think your arousal plan isn't working. Kenji just took another pawn." Akami pointed out.

"Give it time, Akami. With your brains and my rack, we're an unstoppable combo!" Miho exclaimed proudly, putting her hands on her hips.

"Taisei, tell me that you aren't affected by such crass diversions…" Shiro pleaded.

"I'm busy, Shiro. I got a chess match to win…" Kenji replied, moving his knight into position. The game went on, Kenji and Akami trading tense stares at each other as they made each move, Miho trying and failing to catch Kenji's attention throughout. Finally, as the tie of 9-9 held, Akami cinched a victory by capturing Kenji's king. Monokuma clapped in applause.

"Now wasn't that a thrilling game! Kenji's been eliminated, getting 9 pieces to Akami's 10!" Monokuma announced. Kenji offered a bandaged hand, wincing slightly as he and Akami shook hands.

"Good game, Akami. Good luck playing against Shiro." Kenji said.

"Likewise. That was pretty fun." Akami said, letting go of Kenji's hand as the Minikumas reset the pieces once more. Shiro sat down and adjusted his glasses.

"Ishii, do not bother with your distractions. I am above such tawdry games." Shiro said, Miho sticking her tongue at him in response. The game between Shiro and Akami was deliberate and slow, but was far more tipped in Shiro's favor, taking two pieces for every one he sacrificed.

"This guy's rough, jeez…" Akami said, looking at his paltry 5 pieces, he felt like he couldn't move a single one unless Shiro would take another one and make it even more likely that he was going to lose.

"Every attempt to move will result in a slow, cloying defeat. If you wish you spare yourself the shame, I'd advise you forfeit, Sakiko." Shiro warned, moving a piece as he did. Akami bit his lower lip and growled in protest.

"Ya wanna fuck with me, Kiruma? I'm not going to give you the satisfaction!" Akami shouted, grabbing his board and flipping it at him, Shiro's face hit with random pieces as he shielded himself from being hit with pawns.

"Oooh… Ragequit." Hana observed.

"Ya know you just gave Shiro 16 points, and you get zero, right?" Monokuma pointed out.

"Wait, what? But I eliminated six of his pieces!" Akami objected.

"I don't want sore losers in the Friendship Relay! You flip the board and you lose your points! Team AkaMiho stops at 23 pieces and Team KenShiro takes lead with 47 pieces! And now it's time for the finale! Yukiji Chimon, the Ultimate Chessmaster with two dominant victories! Shiro Kiruma, the Ultimate Politician who has observed the strategies of every player! Who's gonna win? Who's gonna win?!" Monokuma declared as the board was reset, Minikumas gathering pieces off the floor. Yukiji took Akami's seat, struggling to open the wrapping of another KitKat bar, sticking it in his mouth and looking up at Shiro with his sleepy raccoon eyes. 

"Well, this will certainly be my greatest challenge, facing off against the Ultimate Chessmaster. But even the greatest minds can be bested." Shiro said confidently as Yukiji's side was set with half the pieces. Yukiji simply bit into his KitKat and slowly began to lace some of his fingers together, not even paying attention to him as Shiro made the first move.

The students who stayed watched, Kenji and Setsuki had their eyes glued to the board as their teammates played their strategies out. Shiro's turns were long and carefully considered, taking up to two minutes to move a single piece. Yukiji seemed to move quickly in response, taking only a second to move his piece and using Shiro's turns to eat and drink. As the game went on, Shiro's pieces dwindled away, Yukiji only losing two pawns and a knight. After nearly 45 minutes of play, Yukiji finally called checkmate after eliminating all of Shiro's pieces.

"And we have a winning team! Team KenShiro gets eliminated with 50 pieces and at 54 pieces, Team SetsuKiji wins the Chess Tournament, followed by Team KenShiro in second with 50, Team AkaMiho in third with 23, Yu-Ku-Do in 4th with 13, Team Hat in fifth with 12 and in a reverse of fortunes, Team Best Team in dead last with only 7 pieces!" Monokuma announced as Shiro stared at the board in shock. He had nothing left.

"Th-this… how did I…?" Shiro sputtered out, eyes wide.

"You really gave me a lot of opportunities to capture. You were using the sacrifice play on someone who had a lot less to risk against such a thing." Yukiji explained. "Sacrifice is a part of chess, but if you just keep throwing pieces away, you won't have anything left to sacrifice."

Setsuki pulled Yukiji into a hug. "Woohoo! We did it, Yukes! You are the Chess King!" Setsuki said, Yukiji smiling and nodding off slightly.

"Yay…" he said sleepily. Kenji reached a hand for Shiro's shoulder.

"It's okay, Shiro. We made it to second, right?" Kenji said reassuringly, Shiro brushing him off as he got back up.

"Let's just see what Monokuma has in store for us. Any enjoyment I may have had for this Friendship Relay has passed…" Shiro said coldly, turning to Monokuma. "Now then, how long do you intend for this farce to go on for? I would like the use of my hand back."

"Glad you asked, Shiro! Meet out on the campus grounds! My legs are getting stiff from how boring this whole ordeal was! Chess is for losers and people pretendin' they're smart." Monokuma said, Shiro heading off and dragging Kenji along as the students left Yukiji's lab.

Five of the teams had headed out for the grounds. Kenji looked as he walked to see Hana and Haru, Miho and Akami, Setsuki and Yukiji and finally Yukata and Airi. "Hrm... looks like Akira and Reiko haven't come back…" Kenji noted.

"I doubt Ono will want to continue participation. She should've been the one handcuffed to you, not me…" Shiro said, looking over his wrist with a venomous glare.

"Hey, at least I get along with Reiko!" Kenji snapped.

"Somehow…" Shiro replied snidely as they kept walking. Kenji started pulling ahead, tugging slightly on the chain. Shiro glared at him before he began to walk past him, pulling Kenji along in response. The two kept at this petty game of tug-of-war until they finally came to a stop, coming upon the final leg of the Friendship Relay.

Before them was a crudely constructed track of wood and duct tape; wooden towers with Monokuma sentries littered the track, holding black and white flags with numbers of the opposite color. The high walls blocked the view of the track from the teams as Monokuma stood in wait, wearing a matching haori and wielding a paper fan. "Hrm... looks like one of the teams is missing. This won't do, this won't do at all! Akira Kazue helped organize this Friendship Relay! She should be here for the Grand Finale!" Monokuma shouted, waving his fan furiously.

"Perhaps it would be better to disqualify her and Ono. Clearly the two have been unable to work together as a team." Shiro assessed, Kenji rolling his eyes at that.

"Look who's talking…" he muttered under his breath.

"No, no, no! This Friendship Relay is mandatory! There will be no disqualifications! I will not have my Relay be squandered by a bunch of brats who can't learn to get along! So, here's what we're gonna do! We are conducting a special Bonus Round: Team Hat Search Party! If you find a member of Team Hat and bring them here, you get 50 Bonus Points! 100 Points if you can get both members!" Monokuma declared.

"Wait, what?! We can get 100 Bonus Points that easily?" Yukata asked in shock.

"Who said it was easy? You still gotta get Reiko over here, don't ya?" Monokuma pointed, tapping the fan against his temple. "Now then, let's get this Special Friendship Relay Bonus Round underway. On yer mark… get set…" Monokuma said slowly, drawing out the silence to build tension when it was undercut by an angered yell echoing from behind the students. They quickly turned around to the source of the yelling. 

"NO! FUCK YOU!" Reiko shouted as she struggled to escape Akira's headlock.

"We. Are! GOING! TO! **FRIENDSHIP!** " Akira spat back, dragging Reiko's heels along the ground as she tried to fight Reiko's strength with sheer willpower. "STOP MAKING EVERYTHING HARD!"

"It's because you suck!" Reiko growled, trying to kick Akira in the shins as they finally met up with their classmates.

"We're- Ow, damnit! That was my toes!" Akira cried out, tightening her hold. "We're here! I know Team Hat has had a few difficult-OW! Screw you! Difficulties, but we're gonna prove that we can be a strong team and good friends!" Akira said, forcing a smile while Reiko flailed her arms in an attempt to donkey punch the Ultimate Police Cadet.

"...I highly doubt that." Airi said, somewhat stunned before turning to Monokuma. "So, what's the score?" she asked.

"Glad you asked, Airi! You see, combining the scores for the Basketball and the Chess scores…" Monokuma looked at both of his paws, trying to count this on his fingers. "The first place would be… Oh screw it!" Monokuma said, snapping his fan into an open palm. "Why the hell is my job to keep score!? Look, here's how we're gonna do this since I've got a luau coming up and the amount of times I've gotten mad today are off the charts! First person to cross the finish line is the winner! Second and third place will… get some kind of runner-up thing." Monokuma stated, not entirely sure what the runner up prizes really are.

"Are you shitting me? We played basketball and chess for God knows how long just for you to say that it didn't matter?" Akami objected.

"Yup! But that doesn't mean you're out of the woods yet! We've got the final challenge, The Obstacle Course! We have 10 special obstacles on this course that you have to clear to reach the finish line! Oh, and before we begin…" Monokuma said, walking over to Kenji and Shiro. He pulled out a key and unlocked their cuffs, Akira's eyes shooting with in horror.

"No! What are you doing, you stupid bear?! They're not gonna work together now!" Akira whined while Kenji and Shiro sighed in relief, Kenji massaging his wrist.

"Ahh, that's better…" Kenji said, Shiro nodding in response.

"Indeed, it feels like I have been finally unchained from a boulder I had to carry." Shiro replied, Kenji ignoring that comment. The two turned to walk away from each other, only to both trip, falling forward onto the grass. "Gnh! Wh-what?"

"Ack! The hell was-" Kenji said as he turned to see one of his ankles tied to Shiro's with a bright red bungee cord, tied so many times they couldn't pull away from each other.. "What the hell is this?!"

"That's the special part of this! This is gonna be a three-legged race! All teams are going to be wearing these cords around their ankles and race as one!" Monokuma declared, tying cords around each of the teams before they could raise an objection, complaints began to stir coming from the other students as Monokuma spoke to Kenji.

"My mom always told me you have two eyes, and two hands. It's weird you didn't notice when I tied your legs together! Oh well." Monokuma said, pulling out a gun from behind his back and pointing it toward Kenji.

"IS THAT A GUN!?" Kenji cried out, Akira and Reiko stopping their fight at the sight of this and running to stop Monokuma. Monokuma pulled the trigger, the gun letting off a weak bang and unveiling a flag that read " **START!** "

"Gotcha~" Monokuma said gleefully. "Now, get to running that course!"

The teams made a run for it, many running well together in spite of the the sudden limitation enforced on them. Kenji could see that Hana and Haru were not one of those teams. Their different in height and body weight meant that Haru was now dragging Hana along, making her ragdoll on the track. "Haru! Slow down! I wasn't ready! This is not Mojo at all!" Hana shouted as she bounced off the ground. Kenji turned his eyes forward to see a sign in front of them; **High-Low Mud Run**

Coming up was a line of hurdles and nets of chicken wire, alternating between hurdles and nets. Unde the nets were small mud pits. "Alright, Shiro! We've had some pretty sloppy steps! We're gonna need to be in rhythm!" Kenji said. "Move the leg connected to me to my rhythm! 1! 1! 1!" Kenji shouted, Shiro matching his steps for a bit, jumping over the first hurdle with little struggle. Kenji ducked down to crawl under the net, only to feel a snag on the cord. He looked up to see Shiro standing straight, looking down at him.

"I refuse to get my clothes covered in that slop." Shiro said, arms crossed. Kenji snarled and reached up to grab Shiro by his shirt, forcing down to the ground.

"We are not throwing this obstacle course at the first challenge! You are doing this, Shiro!" Kenji shouted, forcing him under the chicken wire and into the mud. In spite of the Ultimate Politician's furious protests, Kenji dragged him through the mud, soaking them as they trudged through. Kenji could see that only Akami was also having difficulty going through the mud, screeching about his hair as Miho forced him through.

"And we have Team Hat barreling down the front, with Team Best Team quickly making up time! Doooown the middle are Yu-Ku-Do and SetsuKiji, trailing from the back is KenShiro, trying to chase down AkaMiho as we head to the super ultra sprinkler volley! These are strong sprinklers, so watch your eyes. Ain't that right! uhh..." Monokuma announced from a commentator's booth, turning to an empty seat next to him and letting out a heavy sigh. "I need a commentary partner."

Soon came the **Super Ultra Sprinkler Volley** ™ which was just an overly dramatic way to describe an empty field with rotary sprinklers firing at them. Shiro used the opportunity, catching the spray with his glasses to swiftly and skillfully get the mud off as Kenji did most of the running. Team AkaMiho fell behind Team KenShiro as Akami tripped, becoming increasingly upset at being splashed with mud and sprayed with water, ruining his hair and makeup as Miho dragged him along. "Alright! We passed Miho and Akami! Just four more teams to go, Shiro!" Kenji exclaimed, slowly catching up on Team SetsuKiji as they rushed into the next obstacle.

 **The Stone Ocean** proved to be a far greater challenge in comparison to the Sprinkler Volley as the teams had to skip across rocks, occasionally getting caught on false sinking stones into muddy water. For once, Shiro seemed motivated to move, leaping gracefully from stone to stone, Kenji struggling to keep up. Haru and Hana, who had been holding second, were now trapped by hitting the same false stone, getting bunnyhopped by Setsuki and Yukiji along the way. "And it looks that Team Hat is still leading while Team Best Team is falling behind, Kenji and Shiro are now holding a solid third place, just passing SetsuKiji and gaining on Yu-Ku-Do! And Team AkaMiho are in fifth, just passing Team Best Team!" Monokuma recapped as they entered the fourth obstacle.

In front of the teams were six large tractor tires, marked with colored tape around them, in front of them was a large Monokuma head with 6 doors, each one representing one of his overly big teeth. Kenji's eyes caught the tire with red tape, running for it. "For the **Tire Run** , teams can roll, pull, push or drag their tire to the platform that will open the gate to the next objective! All that matters is gettin' that tractor tire from point A to point B!" Monokuma explained as Kenji gripped the tire. He gritted his teeth as the pain of his burns flared up, looking down to see his bandages were soaked and coming off in tatters. He kept working to stand it upright while Shiro simply watched, turning his eyes to check on other teams. Miho had immediately deadlifted her tire, her and Akami running with it while Haru began to push his upright.

"Damn it! I can't lift it!" Kenji said as he barely got the tire off the ground. He dropped it, rubbing his lower back.

"There is a rope you can pull, Taisei." Shiro said as he pointed the rope that had been fastened to the tire's axis. He gripped the rope and tugged, the wet bandages soothing the burning in his hands. He dragged the tire along the ground, seeing other teams rolling their tires. Haru rolled his the farthest, Kiko walking backwards atop the tire.

"Team AkaMiho makes a resounding comeback thanks to the sheer power of the Strike Queen, taking first from Team Hat, who lose second place to Team Best Team, redeeming their drop in the Stone Ocean! Team Hat is now down to third, their tire flip strategy outdoing Kenji's efforts to drag their tire. And the least physically active players in Yu-Ku-Do and Team SetsuKiji begin to falter, knocking them to the end." Monokuma declared, getting more excited and shaking the crude straw effigy of Bam sitting in the second chair.

The Monokuma mouths opened to a segmented bridge; the platform was a large, narrow board that was suspended over a huge pool of mud. The first obstacle on the bridge was the fact it was spinning like a propellor. Kenji and Shiro ran up the board, stopping at the spinning bridge. "Welcome to **All Terrain Students**! Will you survive these obstacles? Or fall into mud, and get muddy… or something." Monokuma said, his enthusiasm fading as he looked over to his crude Bam puppet. "You got anything to say?" Monokuma asked, leaning over to puppeteer the effigy.

"Panties! Mama Mia!" Monokuma said, his voice mimicking what he thought Bam sounded like.

Kenji and Shiro moved along the bridge, waiting at the edge and timing their jump to make it across. Among the teams, all but Yukata and Airi made it across the spinning bridge, Yukata failing to make the jump and taking Airi down with him. The next platform was a seesaw, teams taking careful steps across and lowering the seesaw. Setsuki overshot her speed and ended up sending her team down into the dirty drink.

Kenj and Shiro made it onto the third platform with ease, joined by Team AkaMiho and Team Hat, a misstep by Haru costing Team Best Team, Kiko leaping off his head and waiting at the platform for her owner. The third platform seemed to be the finish line, until a large wooden barrel shot out, rolling at them. Shiro jumped over the barrel, Kenji nearly being taken by the barrel but scrambling over. On the other side, Miho had hucked the barrel off the platform and Reiko had smashed her booted foot into the barrel.

"Team AkaMiho and Team Hat go with unconventional methods of dealing with the barrel, but the barrel stomp from Reiko costs her team second place to Team KenShiro. Team Best Team falls into fourth place, redeeming their past failure while Team SetsuKiji takes fifth and Yu-Ku-Do are down in last!" Monokuma recapped as Airi dragged Yukata to the end of the obstacle.

Next was **Balancing Act** , a small table filled with teacups full of water, and a 50 foot series of ropes held taut between two walls. "Balance these cups on your head as you get past the ropes! If ya spill the water, you have to start over! Show off your perfect posture, and get that teacup past the rope maze! It's like those movies with the laser rooms, But cheaper. I'm not made of money y'know!" Monokuma warned.

"It's up to you, Shiro!" Kenji said, Shiro catching his breath and nodding.

"Indeed, should be a simple enough challenge… Follow my instructions to the letter." Shiro said as he took the red teacup and placed it onto his head. The two entered the maze, Shiro taking lead as they slowly weaved through the ropes, Kenji watching the cup with rapt attention. He had barely noticed Kiko scoot along with an orange teacup on her head.

"Hey! Get that mutt off the course! That is cheating! I did not approve of this!" Monokuma shouted, tossing his mic at the bulletproof glass, smashing it into pieces. The maze proved harder than anyone thought as cups fell regularly, Kenji tripping and bumping into Shiro, causing their cup to drop. Shiro angrily dagged them out of their maze to get a second cup. This cost them time, though they still managed to pass Akira and Reiko after Reiko threw their cup in a fit of anger.

"Thanks to their dirty cheating with that lousy little fleabag, Team Best Team take the lead back, followed by Team AkaMiho. Team KenShiro make it to third, outpacing Team Hat, who get knocked to fourth. Yu-Ku-Do trade fifth place from Team SetsuKiji as Yukiji drops his cup at a crucial moment!" Monokuma announced, grumbling as he gathered pieces of broken microphone from the table.

Out of the maze was a row of doors, corresponding to their cord colors, each with a button in the center of a bullseye. In front of them were metal buckets full of balls. "Welcome to **Target Practice**. You gotta hit the bullseye from thirty feet away to open the door, but it only stays open for five seconds, so you better haul some serious ass!" Monokuma explained as students each grabbed a ball, throwing for the target. Kenji looked at his bandages, barely holding to his arms at this point from the sweat and strain. He ripped the bandages right off his arm, going for a ball and feeling an intense stinging throughout his palm.

"Anh! Damn it! My hand! Shiro, you gotta-" Kenji started when he felt something tugging at his ankle. He looked to see Shiro struggling with the cord. "Shiro, what are you doing?!" Kenji shouted.

"I refuse to participate in this mockery for any longer. I am untying us and going back to my lab. I have far better things to do than-" Shiro began when Kenji grabbed him by the collar, forcing him to his feet.

"No. You are -NOT- walking off on this Relay!" Kenji said, ignoring the burning in his hand.

"There's nothing important at stake in this! Why does this matter!?" Shiro shot back, glaring daggers at Kenji.

"Nothing important?! Is it only important if someone has to die!? What kind of fucked up mindset is that!?" Kenj asked, aghast.

"It is not a matter of death! It is because I have nothing to lose! You act like I want to be here, Taisei! You act like we're not kidnapped by some idiot piloting a bear mascot, and now we're forced to run hurdles like we're nothing but a bunch of hamsters with no willpower. This whole thing is pointless, why do I have to involve myself in anything you idiots come up with!? Not only that, this whole thing was Kazue's idea, why is Kazue even speaking to that hopeless little ingrate of a bear!? We're trying to defeat it!" Shiro raved, gripping at the ends of his hair in frustration.

"Akira's just trying to make sure we're working together! Why is that a problem!? You've done nothing but look out for yourself! This whole relay was about building bridges, not putting a walls like an asshole!" Kenji shouted

"Save that for your run as assistant manager at McDonald's, Taisei. It's all you're gonna be worth after this Killing Game's over, if you make it." Shiro said coldly. Kenji's fist shook, teeth gritted in anger and pain before he suddenly calmed down and started laughing bitterly.

"Hah hah… so you still think you're gonna be a leader after this?" Kenji asked, Shiro cocking an eyebrow at him.

"Of course. Fate has favored me to lead our country. This whole Killing Game is an obstacle and this Relay is a distraction. Really, what makes you think that I will not be the Prime Minister? Is it because I don't let my emotions control me like you do, Taisei?" Shiro asked.

"No, it's because you're afraid that as soon as you act like a decent person, someone's going to betray you. You're afraid, Shiro. That's what I think! You're afraid of caring, what kind of Prime Minister acts like he doesn't give a shit about his people?" Kenji said, stomping his foot as he noticed that other people were beginning to pass the two of them.

"Now you're just projecting things onto me, Taisei... " Shiro adjusted his glasses, hoping that would be the end of it, until Kenji grabbed him by the lapels of his coat.

"Be a real leader, Shiro. A real leader. Give people an example that you're worth following, that people will be wrong for doubting you. Because here's the thing… You're alone, and nobody likes you, and that's how you'll end up dying if you don't realize you can't do EVERYTHING by yourself! One person isn't a country, and one person isn't enough to stop the Killing Game!"

"...An example worth following? I am the Ultimate Politician. I am a Senator of the Japanese Diet. I am-"

"You are refusing to participate in a relay because you think it's beneath you. How is that gonna sound to the people? Shiro Kiruma, the Prime Minister who won't throw a fucking baseball?! Why can't you just try and win, goddamnit!?" Kenji sat getting inches from Shiro's face. Shiro's eyes widened with fury, body trembling. He shoved Kenji off and turned to the bucket, grabbing a ball and rearing back fast and hard. He tossed the ball, striking the target perfectly. "Hell yeah! That's the spirit Shi-Ack!"

"Move, Taisei!" Shiro yelled, dragging Kenji across the field and making it through the door.

"And Team KenShiro finally makes it through Target Practice, dropping behind Yu-Ku-Do who take fifth, with Team Best Team dropping their lead and settling into fourth. Team Hat holds third place while Team SetsuKiji rises up to second, stopping short of Team AkaMiho who take the lead! The game is heating up as we reach the final leg! Three more challenges remain! Who's it gonna be? Who's it gonna be?!" Monokuma said frantically, jumping up and down in his chair and knocking over 'Bam.' "Whoops, he died."

As Shiro lead the charge for the next obstacle, he heard the sound of whirring machinery. He turned to see the flagbearing Monokumas were sitting in machine gun turrets, barrels aimed right at them. "Taisei! Down!" Shiro shouted, grabbing Kenji and tossing them to the ground as the Monokumas fired tennis balls down on the six teams.

"And now we have my favorite obstacle, **Monokuma Nests**! Tennis balls will be raining down from above and you've gotta get through the barrage! Extreeeeeme!" Monokuma said, cackling maniacally. The tennis balls came down hard and fast, leaving small dents in the dirt. Haru used his body to block the balls from barreling down on Hana, SetsuKiji falling back as the barrage took its toll on Yukiji.

"Alright, fuck this!" Reiko yelled. "I'M GONNA FUCK UP THESE STUPID BEARS!" She began grabbing tennis balls and throwing them into the guns, causing some of them to blow up and light on fire.

"Stop damaging my property! I worked kinda hard on that!" Monokuma complained, using a megaphone to project his voice. A ball went flying straight at the bulletproof glass in front of him. "Hey! No violence against Dean Monokuma!"

"It isn't violent if I told you to EAT A DICK, MONOKUMA!" Reiko yelled, Akira trying and failing to stop her. "PISS OFF, AKIRA! IMMA FUCK UP THAT BEAR!"

"Reiko, stop! This isn't what the Friendship Relay is about! We need to reach the end, damn it!" Akira pleaded, struggling to pull Reiko away.

"Don't make me Gungnir you, I will soooo Gungnir you!" Monokuma warned, but Reiko shouted back in response.

"I DON'T GIVE A FUCK, YOU WOULD KILL AKIRA TOO SINCE HER SORRY ASS IS TIED TO ME!"

"Oh yeah, I forgot… woops."

"Don't Gungnir me! I didn't do anything!" Akira shouted, finally pulling Reiko out of the mess of tennis balls.

"Alright, now that we've gotten that out of the way, Team Hat has dropped down to last place thanks to Reiko's rampage. Team SetsuKiji drops down to fifth, behind Yu-Ku-Do in fourth and Team Best Team in third. Team KenShiro powers through for the comeback into second, can they overtake Team AkaMiho?" Monokuma poised the question as Kenji and Shiro ran, battered and bruised, coming to a stop at a thirty foot wall with a net of rope hung from it. Miho and Akami were already on, so they jumped on and began to climb.

"And the final two obstacles come together! First, teams must climb **The Wall of Hardship**. A spiderweb of rope leading you to the top where you must grab a marked rope and swing across the **Swing of Friendship** to swing down onto a platform and hit the button. This button will place your team on the board. Once all six teams have hit the button, the Friendship Relay will be finish and the winning teams will be awarded! And don't worry if you miss the target, you'll get plenty of chances to reclimb the Wall and take another swing!" Monokuma declared as Kenji gripped hard, feeling like his hands were being burnt all over again. The blistering sensation kept him trapped on the wall as he seethed in agony.

"Fuck fuck ow fuck god damnit fuck shit!" Kenji screamed out as he struggled to reach the next rung. In spite of this, he and Shiro were able to keep up their rhythm on each climb. Behind his glasses, Shiro's eyes were filled with a fiery determination If the climb was taking any toll on him, he didn't show it the way Kenji did. Shiro just kept climbing the wall.

"Don't tell me you're letting a bit of rope burn slow you down now, Taisei. We're only a few rungs to the top!" Shiro called to his partner as Kenji began to fall behind. Kenji gritted his teeth once again and climbed harder, the two meeting up at the top. Shiro made it first, giving Kenji a hand up. Kenji took a minute to see how the others were doing at the wall; Hana had somehow gotten herself caught in the ropes, bringing her and Haru to stop. Yukiji and Yukata's poor physical constitution, which had been an albatross around their necks throughout the later obstacles, had left them as exhausted dead weights, Setsuki and Airi carrying them up the wall on their backs. Somehow, despite the two fighting each other throughout, Akira and Reiko were the only team making progress up the net. Miho and Akami… weren't on the net.

"Huh? Where are Miho and AkaaAAAHHH!" Kenji pondered as Shiro forced him to his feet.

"They're on their rope! Come on, Taisei! We've got one chance to win this!" Shiro demanded, taking Kenji aback. He did not expect his words to light this much of a spark in Shiro, but he grabbed onto the rope marked with red tape.

"Alright, let's do it on three. One… two… three!" Kenji shouted and on three, the two jumped, holding tight to the rope as they swung. The rope burned the skin on Kenji's hands, Kenji biting his tongue as they rushed through the air. "Now!" Kenji shouted, letting go out of the rope. Part of it was due to the pain, but he also felt them slowing down. They fell down onto the soft, padded platform, spilling onto the ground, before scrambling back up and hitting their buzzer, landing them in second place.

"...Second? We only made second?" Kenji said, stunned as he fell down onto the platform. He looked and saw Miho and Akami on the ground, high-fiving in triumphant excitement. Shiro hit the platform as well, taking a few deep breaths. "Well shit…"

"Hrm… I must admit, this should feel bitterly disappointing. To put so much of our heart and energy into that final leg of the race only to lose…" Shiro said between breaths. "...But I actually feel oddly relieved."

"...Really?" Kenji asked. He turned and look at Shiro, who had what he wouldn't immediately call a smile. It looked more like a warm smirk… it looked like the one he had in the photo in Emi's lab.

"Yes. I feel like I had to struggle to make it to the end of this. It's been a while since I had to do something that didn't have an easy path. I'm sore, out of breath and covered in sweat, mud and dirt… but I feel alive. So, I guess I have to thank you for helping me see this through… Kenji." Shiro said, catching Kenji off guard at hearing Shiro say his name.

"Uh…. no problem, Shiro. But shouldn't you be thanking Akira? She forced us into this stupid relay…" Kenji replied.

"Indeed. Where is Akira? She and Ono were gaining on us before we jumped. They should've reached the rope by-" Shiro contemplated, cut off by a sudden scream from the air.

"WATCH OUT, FUUUUUUCKERS!' Reiko shouted as she and Akira flailed through the air. Kenji and Shiro scrambled off the platform, avoiding the incoming Team Hat as they crashed onto the platform, Reiko angrily slamming her hand onto the button. "There! Now get this fucking cable off me!" she shouted, hoping to get Monokuma's attention.

"Well, since you asked nicely~ Nope! Not gonna happen! Teams are gonna be wearing those until all have hit the button! You can take them off at the awards ceremony!" Monokuma shouted through the speakers.

"Well, guess we're going to be a while…" Kenji said, looking at his hands. All the work he had put into healing them had been undone over the course of the friendship relay, leaving red burning marks all over. He breathed a sigh of relief that the skin hadn't broken. "Think I'll have enough time to wrap these up again?" he asked Shiro, who looked over the burns.

"If the remaining teams have a few misses, we may have enough time. Come on, it will be a bit of a walk." Shiro said, standing up and headed for the hospital. Kenji forced himself to his feet to keep up with Shiro, checking the wall as they walked along the edge of the course. Yukata had fallen off the rope, taking Airi with him as they hit the padded ground, missing the platform entirely.

Something told Kenji that they would have plenty of time.


	29. Chapter 3: Daily Life 8

Chapter 3: Hula Hula, Monokuma (Daily Life 8)

After the end of the 'Friendship Relay' Akira concocted, most of the remaining members of the school went their separate ways. Some people from exhaustion, and others from just being tired of seeing each others faces so much. Akira went back to her room to just recover from spending all day yesterday trying to tame Reiko, with little or no success.

Akira didn't even do much from that point, all she did was lay in her bed, looking at the cheaply spackled white popcorn ceiling in her room, the slow spinning of the fan hypnotizing her as she tried to decompress by herself. She looked over at the clock on her nightstand, seeing it was 6:15. The luau was going to be in 45 minutes and Akira was fretting over one thing… The fact that Miho kissed her.

She wasn't… sure that a killing game was the best place for a relationship, but she wanted to put her best foot forward for this, and the only way for her to put her best foot forward was… to ask Miho out next time she saw her. And in order to do that, she wanted to do something she never thought about doing before… fixing her appearance. And the only person who could help with that was Akami, the Ultimate Make Up Artist.

Akira rolled out of bed, heading for Akami's room. After a few knocks, she got an answer. Akami looked to still be exhausted from the Relay, his nearly trimmed bob was a ragged mess, and he looked tired, though nothing in his skin made this come across. No bags under his eyes or pallidness in his complexion. "Uhh… Hi?" Akami asked, looking up at the police cadet.

"Hey, Akami. I need a favor." she said. "You're good with makeup, right?" Akira asked, but Akami just huffed and looked at him with a confused expression.

"...Seriously? You're asking that. You know who I am right? I expected something like that from Kenji, not you." Akami said, rubbing his temple with one hand.

"...Oh, right. Sorry, I'm still a bit out of it from the Relay. Look, you up for a makeover or what?" Akira asked, sliding her hands behind her back and giving out an awkward laugh in response. Akami just sighed again and looked at her through his lowered brows.

"The whole Friendship Relay was your idea, Akira. You know that, right?" Akami asked, but Akira put her hand on the door frame to make sure he didn't close it in her face.

"Y-yeah! It was, but that last part was Monokuma. I just.. Thought we were going to just play a bunch of games. Maybe a skating competition in Setsuki's lab, or maybe a swim race in the pool, not… Whatever that was." Akira said, frustrated.

"It was like Takeshi's Castle but it sucked. He even had a kimono or something on." Akami observed. "All we got from it was that hideous Monokuma trophy. Gold is not a spring color, more of a summer or autumn."

"...Akami, do you even know what season it is?" Akira asked, tilting her head slightly at that.

"Well… no, but my point stands that the trophy looks like cheap plastic and gold flaking. Now, it's in my room and I can't look at it without hating myself. Can we go to my lab? My supplies are there as well." Akami requested.

"Why not just give it to Miho?" Akira questioned.

"She refused. Her walls are covered with title belts, said she had too many on her walls, that and it made her eyes bleed and made her never want to win anything ever again." Akami added, Akira looking surprised by that.

"Did she really sa-" She was then cut off from her response.

"No, I made up that last part. But I could see it in her eyes. But we're burning daylight. Let's get to my lab." Akami said, making his way out of the room. Akira moved her arm to let him pass, making the long walk to the labs, his red scarf dancing as he marched down his stairs, out the front doors and heading back to the lab building to his makeup studio.

When she opened the door, the light shining through just burned her eyes to char from the studio lights being so bright. "W-woah! It's bright in here!" Akira complained, shielding her eyes with a hand as Akami didn't seem phased.

"The lights had to be perfectly white. If they're too blue, like Yukiji's lights, or too orange like Kenji's lights, the palette of my makeup will be off, and it'll look ugly in natural lighting. This is my frame of reference." Akami explained. "Have you ever done your own makeup before?" He asked, spinning his chair so she could climb into it and face his mirrors and equipment.

"Uhh… My mom used to. When I started trying to be a cop I didn't have a lot of time to do it. I guess I know how to put on eyeliner, but that's about it." Akira said, hand on her chin in thought.

Akami quietly began to sift through drawers with lots of compact powder kits. Each one was labelled a different name. Some had names of people, and some had names for occasions and seasons. "Looks like I don't have your palette. I'll have to make one." He said, pulling out a weird machine that looked like a small, lever activated press. He then took Akira's chin in his hand, softly inspecting her face and noting the colors he saw. "Violet eyes… peach complexion, but turns bluer near the eyes…" He mumbled as Akira just stared at him like a confused puppy.

He turned to his drawer, pulling out a variety of powders. Some of the powders were green, some were pink, and some were brown. He pulled out a small container, pouring the colors into it. "I'm gonna make your foundation. Then once we do that, I'll get into the major details." Akami explained, but Akira just watched, leaning forward to see what he was doing.

"Is… Is my skin green?" Akira asked, but Akami suppressed a chuckle as he continued to mix. "No no… Just to get your skin color, I'll need to mix a buncha colors together, sort of an average of your overall skin color." He said, mixing the powders until he got the exact shade of peach Akira's skin was. He slid the powder under the machine, pulling the lever and pressing it into a disc.

He turned it to her, before placing it an empty compact. "There, Akira color." He said with a friendly smile on his face, gently swirling a brush into the color and beginning to quietly powder her face, ridding it of some of her blemishes. Old scars, pockmarks, dark spots began to disappear as he meticulously powdered her face.

"I have to ask… Why makeup?" Akira asked, not moving her face much to not throw off his delicate touch, Akami spoke, but his eyes remained focused like a hawk as he continued.

"...It was one of the only ways me and my mom could bond. I never met my dad… So doing makeup with her was one of the only ways we spent time with each other. That, and it's surprisingly fun to try and make things beautiful, no matter how fake make-up is designed to be… It's almost like I'm turning people into what they wish they were, instead of just accepting themselves for who they are. I guess I'm glad I can give people that comfort." Akami explained.

"Oh, like your freckles?" Akira asked innocently, Akami's expression turning sour.

"...You really had to bring those up, huh?" he sniped.

"Well, you said it. It's okay to have flaws, because you have makeup to let you pretend for a little while that they aren't there. Wouldn't that count for you, too?" Akira argued. "Besides, I think you'd look kind of cute with freckles."

Akami sighed at that. "I got made fun of for how I look. I was short, built like a twig, and liked tying my hair up in a bun, that and the freckles. Japanese schoolkids are assholes, they always… called me names because of it. My mom always told me my freckles were cute, but I dunno… I always thought they looked like dirt all over my face." Akami said, still focusing on Akira's face.

"Well… Those kids suck. You have an actual talent, Akami. And it makes you happy, so who cares what a bunch of high-schoolers from years ago think?" Akira said, reaching over to pat him on the shoulder.

"Please don't move. I need to concentrate." He said, finishing the foundation, and pulling out another container. "Next up is eyeshadow, concealer was in the foundation, so most of your blemishes should be gone. Since you have purple-ish eyes, we'll go with Taupe eyeshadow." He said, looking down at the brush to apply it evenly.

"Taupe?" Akira asked, tilting her head as he applied the dark eyeshadow to his brush. "What's Taupe?"

"Taupe is sort of a darker version of your skin color. It'll match your foundation and make your eyes more… stareable." Akami explained with a shrug. "This stuff's pretty good. It should only come off if you get it wet, then wipe it down."

"Well, guess that means swimming's out for the night." Akira joked, getting a chuckle out of Akami.

He quickly and smoothly put on the eyeshadow with surprisingly blitzing speed. The contrast between her eyelids and her iris' were much more obvious, it made her eyes much brighter looking. After he finished, he pulled out a small, rounded stick. "Lipstick's a bit much, so we'll just apply some lip gloss." Akami noted, uncapping the stick and twisting the bottom, uncovering a bit of gloss to the top. With a swift stroke, he had applied the gloss to her lips, looking over Akira's face. He looked at each individual point more than once, wanting to see if any details had been missed and what could be touched up. "Hm… when the Luau's over, I'll lend you my makeup cleaning kit. If you leave this on you'll break out." Akami offered.

"Thanks, Akami. So guessing we're all set here?" Akira asked, getting a nod as he spun the seat toward the mirror to give her a look at his efforts.

"Ow wow, this looks great, Akami! Thanks a lot!" Akira said, Akami smiling. Not a lot had changed from looking at her face before, but it felt like all her flaws seemed to disappear. She had neat, pearly skin, bright, well contrasted eyes and her smile even looked just a bit brighter.

"No problem. It was fun to try my hand at someone other than myself. Haven't had a chance to make someone else over in a long time." Akami said as he began putting away supplies. "Now, we'd better get going. The Luau's probably started by now."

Akira nodded and got up from the chair, helping Akami organize his tools before they left. They made the long trip to the luau, seeing warm orange lights by the pool building. They walked up closer to see tiki torches lining the way. A large, wooden stage was painted green and lined on each side with Hawaiian foliage to cover up all the wood. There was a line of Monokumas in clamshell bikinis, spinning fire on two ends of a pole and dancing in unison, with one playing a large drum.

Kenji was dodging a Monokuma's attempt to throw a wreath necklace over his head. "I've never seen someone try so hard not to get Lei'd!" Monokuma said, his grating laugh echoing through the night air.

"That pun was awful." Yukata complained, trying to get some of the wreath necklaces off the spikes of his bright green hair. Akira and Akami turned back to the stage watching the Monokuma Fire Dance. They tossed their poles into the air, all but one catching them in the other hand. In the center of the dance troupe, the Monokuma got struck in the head, knocking him out and sending him face first to the floor. The pole settled on the Monokuma, slowly lighting it on fire. The rest of the Monokumas continued to dance as their fallen comrade burned in front of them. One other Monokuma walked up and kicked the burning copy a few times with his foot, before giving a shrug.

"Why is everything Monokuma does a disaster?" Setsuki mentioned, currently sipping on a clear plastic cup of blue punch. Yukiji shrugged as he circled the ladle through the bowl of red punch, pouring himself a cup. Akira walked over to the table where they were.

"Hey, Setsuki! Hey, Yukiji! How's the luau been?" she asked.

"'Sup, KiKi? It's been pretty lame. I don't think Monokuma's ever been to a luau…" Setsuki said, taking another sip of blue punch. "Best thing about it is you get three kinds of punch."

Akira looked over, seeing three bowls of punch; red, blue and green. In front of each bowl was a name matching the color; Red Riot, Blue Blast and Green Growler. Akira shrugged and grabbed the ladle for Blue Blast, pouring herself a drink, before throwing in two ice cubes to keep her drink cold, too many would water it down.

"Hmmm… Looks like everyone's here. I guess it's time for my special announcement announcement!" Monokuma shouted excitedly, leaping onto stage after kicking another Monokuma fire dancer in the head to take his spot. The dancer then exploded for no particular reason.

"It is presently 7:04 PM, and at 7:30, I have a special announcement, that will be the motive for the next killing! Until then, kick back, play limbo, try the shrimp cocktail. Peace!" He said, before running back off the stage and slipping underneath the wooden platform for now. The dancers walked off the stage to set up the limbo pole.

"Alright! Now we're talking! I'm gonna go so low!" Setsuki said enthusiastically, chugging down her punch before heading for the limbo bar. She bent down low, crossing the bar with ease. "You're up, Yukes!"

Yukiji shrugged and handed his punch to Akira, heading over to try the bar. "Hey, Shiro! You wanna see how low you can go?" Kenji asked, watching Yukiji struggle to make it past the lowered bar.

"I think I'll pass…" Shiro said, looking over the spread of food on the table. "But you go ahead, I wanna see you make a fool of yourself." he said with a smirk.

"Well, prepare to be disappointed." Kenji shot back as he headed for the bar. Akira watched him go low, just barely making it when she heard groans of revulsion coming from next to her. She looked and saw Akami grimacing at the food in front of him.

"What's up, Akami? Nothing you like on the menu?" Akira asked, Akami shaking his head.

"Nothing I can eat. It's all shellfish. Crab cakes, shrimp cocktail, crawfish gumbo, lobster. I don't like shellfish." Akami explained, trying to find anything without seafood. Akira scanned the table, looking for anything that wasn't oceanic in nature. Looking past the filets and popcorn shrimp, she started contemplating that Setsuki had the right idea with a cookout rather than a luau.

"There we go! Got some fruit. Maybe mix it with some Green Growler." Akira suggested, pouring a cup for Akami as looked over the food on the table. Giving a sigh, Akami leaned down to look at his drink.

"This is more like a mixed drink than actual food, if it's just a drink with some pineapples in it." He said, leaning up to his mouth to try and sip it. "It sorta smells like melon, maybe some lemonade, too. Not bad for a robot bear, I guess." Akami said, sniffing at the punch a bit more before taking a sip. "Ah yes, melon and a bit of strawberry. Close…" he figured, mixing some air into his mouth to try and guess the flavor a little bit better.

Akira focused back on the table, Shiro stepping slightly to give her some space while he continued to drink and watch Kenji make a fool out of himself. "Gonna need more than fruit, though… Do you want some food over on this table here, too? I'll go and get some for both of us." Akira offered, but Akami looked at the table and sighed.

"Look, don't tell anyone about this, okay? I don't want the word getting around." Akami said, looking over at the table and pointing with the hand he was holding the cup with. "You see… I can't eat certain things, or I'll get sick." he mentioned, Akira looked surprised by this, as she began to look over the dishes.

"O-oh! Allergies? Uhm… What foods should I get?" Akira said, her hand hovering over some of the mini plates to try and stack it with as much stuff Akami could eat as he could.

"Well... more than just allergies. I might choke, if I don't have epinephrine nearby… Just, don't pick anything with shellfish, shrimps, crabs… Heck, just don't pick any seafood, okay?" Akami pleaded, Akira nodding in response.

"Of course. I'll see what I can find. How about like… Pineapples n' chicken?" She mentioned, Akami nodding a few times as she tried to make a decent, hypoallergenic dish for him to eat as the festivities continued behind them. Kenji knocked the pole down, and now they moved onto Haru, Kiko easily crossing under his legs as he tried to go low.

"Honestly I… kinda don't wanna stay here too long." Akami said, furrowing his brow and looking at the stage. "I have this feeling Monokuma is going to unveil something terrible on us, and I don't want to be here to hear it… Maybe I should just stay in my room until we find an exit." Akami surmised, Akira sighing.

"I could understand how you could feel that way… It's been so long since Bam passed away, it feels a little unsettling that nothing bad has happened yet." Akira continued, but Akami just turned to look at her.

"Y'know… It's only been 3 or 4 days. Normally 3 days pass like a flash but.. I just feel like I've been here a few months. I wouldn't be surprised if my hair started to turn grey from the stress." Akami mentioned, casually sipping his drink to keep his throat from going dry while he spoke. Akira slid him a plate of sweet and sour chicken, along with a pair of chopsticks he can eat them with.

"Here, eat up. We just need to focus on sticking Friendship Relay wasn't a perfect plan, but I think it worked out great. Everyone's been getting along better since then. Heck, I think Kenji and Shiro are now actually on speaking terms. If that's not a successful Friendship Relay, I don't know what is." Akira said happily, Akami grabbing his plate and taking a bite before answering her.

"Yeah, except for Miho and Reiko. I think Reiko still hates her… and you. Though… why you?" Akami asked. "Well, besides the fact you were tied to her."

Akira sighed. "I think it's because I'm a police cadet. And maybe because Miho and I are close." she explained. "They haven't really spoken to each other much since that last class trial. I just hope they keep their distance for now. " Akira continued, as she suddenly heard Monokuma begin to shout again.

"And I'm back! I guess it's time to give off my little announcement! As of right now, the killing game has restarted. And I've even built a motive into this very luau!" Monokuma announced, getting confused ramblings from the small group of students at the luau.

"Some of you may not be feeling well now that I've came back, the only thing is; that was on purpose!" He mentioned, Yukata holding his stomach as he began to look at the floor, Akami began to feel the weight from his legs disappear, leaning against the table as Akira ran over to grab him in her arms to keep him standing. His body nearly radiated heat as sweat began to bead on his head.

"I would like to introduce a biological classic, Despair Disease! I've infected one of the punches with a very special concoction. And I gotta say it works at record speed! Thanks to Kenji for making a great guinea pig for that." Monokuma announced with a little giggle, Kenji, now visibly upset ran up to the stage and slammed his hands down as he tried to confront the bear.

"When the hell did you use me as a guinea pig!? You used me to make people sick? What the hell do you mean!?" Kenji shouted, but Monokuma just continued to laugh before speaking again.

"Puhuhu~ Remember when you had a meltdown over peaches the other day? I put Despair Disease in the sauce of the pizza you ate, of course! It was a weaker strain, so it subsided after you slept it off." He explained, a hand behind his back as his paw waves off Kenji.

"Y-you poisoned my pizza? So it's the same poison you put in the punch, you son of a bitch…" Kenji growled, clenching his fists, but Monokuma began to laugh harder at him.

"You're implying I was even your friend in the first place, Taisei. That brief repreive wasn't because I wanted you guys to be happy. Oh no no no… I want you guys to kill each other! Want to see people burned alive! Shot! Drowned! Buried! Screaming for mercy! I want class trials, I want you angry… Don't you see you're doing exactly what I want you to do? Despair has many colors." Monokuma shouted, cackling.

"Is it contagious?" Setsuki asked, worried, with her hands across her chest and backing away from Yukiji, almost tripping over the limbo bar behind her. Monokuma stared at her, his red eye flashing a bit.

"Figure it out yourself, Ms. X-Games. I can't tell you everything, you know!?" Monokuma complained, before jumping into a little double door and disappearing, leaving the group to figure out what was actually happening.

"Is that all he's gonna give us?" Kenji asked as he turned to Airi, who was lost in thought as she watched Hana on the ground, coughing and clutching her chest.

"It appears that's all for this motive… Now we have to figure out who is sick, and what that means for the rest of us." Airi replied, gently walking over and grabbing Hana by her shoulders, standing her up and making sure she wasn't going to fall over.

"Is anyone else feeling symptoms?" Akira asked, as she looked around the luau area and saw Yukata cheerfully walking around, despite the fact he was paler than a ghost.

"I don't know, Akira. I'm feeling great!" he announced, before doubling over and vomiting on the grass. Akira winced, holding Akami in her hands, but his body began to grow more and more limp.

"Uhh.. Miho, can I have some help with Akami? He's heavier than he looks." she asked, reaching a hand up to his forehead and feeling a chill going down her spine as he now had one of the worst fevers she's ever felt on someone's forehead. Miho nodded and grabbed Akami's legs, heaving him off the ground. They carried him off as Haru hoisted Hana onto his shoulder. "Okay, so it looks like Akami, Hana and Yukata have gotten the Disease. Anyone else feeling anything? Why is it called Despair Disease?" Akira asked the group. Kenji kept toward the back of the group, leaving Airi to help Yukata pull himself up.

"I'm not feeling anything, but I think I may want to keep back in case I catch it again. I dunno why he calls it Despair Disease. Probably another bit of his stupid branding." he said, looking and seeing that Shiro didn't exhibit any adverse effects. "Yukiji? How are you holding up?" Kenji asked.

"I-I'm okay. But Monokuma never explained if it is contagious or not. Is it really a good idea for all of us to be together like this?" Yukiji said, Setsuki nodding in agreement.

"Yeah, it could be getting to us and we wouldn't even know it. We gotta get them away from us, right?" Setsuki replied, Akira shutting her eyes and thinking.

"Hrm… we're not far from the hospital. We'll probably have a better chance of containing things if we just sequestered them in the infirmary until we figured out how this disease works." Akira suggested, getting a good response from the rest of the students. However, one voice spoke out among the crowd.

"Oh, fuck no! Y'know what putting them in the hospital means? It means 'Hey, Come to my room and MURDER MY ASS!' We need to lock them in the fuckin' dorm room! " Reiko shouted, walking up to Akira and Miho.

"What? Don't be stupid, Reiko! We can take better care of them at the hospital! They got I.V's and shit there! Why the fuck would we keep them in the dorms!" Miho countered, Reiko gritting her teeth.

"Who the fuck are you calling stupid, Yakuza Bitch? I'm saying the dorms because we can lock the fucking doors, so they won't die!" Reiko shot back, Miho tossing Akami onto Akira and getting in Reiko's face.

"What the fuck did you just call me?" Miho asked, tightening her fists.

"You fuckin' heard me, you Kuzuryu lovin' piece of shit! Ya put a fuckin' hit on my friends! How the fuck is that supposed to not bother me!?" Reko barked, gripping her bat.

"I didn't put a hit on anyone! What the fuck are you even saying!? I'm just trying to help Akira, asshole!" Miho shouted. "Now, are you gonna help or are you gonna keep being a crazy bitch?!"

"Oh, you wanna fucking go, Ishii?! Keep opening your big, stupid mouth and I'll make you eat your words -AND- your teeth!" Reiko warned, holding up a fist.  
"One more fucking word and I'll beat the shit out of you. Got it!? Now shut the fuck up and let's go to the hospital." Miho demanded, Reiko responding by swinging a fist at the Ultimate Joshi. Miho blocked it and landed a few punches on her as the other students began to clear as the argument turned into an all out slugfest. Kenji rushed in to break up the fight.

"Reiko, stop! This isn't gonna help us! We need to-" he said, trying to separate the two when he was suddenly hit in the face with an elbow. Kenji stumbled and held a hand over his eye as he was pretty sure someone just gave him a black eye.

"Fuck you!" Reiko yelled.

"Fuck you!" Miho responded in kind as they kept up their scuffle, Setsuki moving to shield Yukiji who was cowering behind her. Akira set the unconscious Akami down on the ground, running into the fight. She tried to force her way between the two, shouting at them.

"Both of you! Stop it! Separate right now! I said separate or I will-" Akira shouted in a commanding tone when she reeled back, hitting the ground and clutching her nose. She felt hot blood gushing from her nostrils, seething in pain. Yukiji and Setsuki went to help her to her feet, Akira looking up and seeing Miho lift Reiko off the ground by the waist. Miho charged for the catering table, sending both of them crashing through, sending food spilling onto them.

"Enough! That's fucking enough! Stop it! Now!" Akira shouted, scattering the students and grabbing the both of them and pulling them back up to their feet, her bleeding nose dripping into her mouth as she was forced to spit out the blood so she could talk. "You two are going to listen to reason, god dammit… We're taking the sick students to the infirmary, and I don't care what either of you have to say about it. If you have a problem, stay in your dorm and get out of my way." Akira ordered with venom in her voice, surprising everyone else with how harsh she sounded suddenly.

"Anh.. okay, Akira…" Miho said, rubbing her neck in pain. "You… you gonna be okay?" she asked, concerned as the blood continued to pour out of Akira's nose.

"I-I've had it." Akira complained, rubbing some of the blood on her sleeve. "I've had it with all the fighting! We're supposed to be friends, we're supposed to be a team! We're letting nonsense get in our way… We need to get these people to the hospital and you guys are fighting! It's a waste of our time." Akira continued, but Reiko stood up from being put through a table and rubbed her shoulder to try and relive some of the pain.

"If you idiots feel like running around like fucking chickens until someone decides to off one of you fuckers… I'm staying out of it. I'll be in my dorm, all of you can go fuck yourselves! " Reiko growled, stomping off into the distance, muttering "Stupid fucking people…" to herself.

Akira sighed and looked around the rest of the people who watched that scene unfold. "Does anyone want to help me take the people who got sick to the infirmary?" she asked.

"Shouldn't… shouldn't one of us go check on Reiko?" Kenji asked in response, covering his damaged eye, Akira shaking her head.

"At this point, she'd probably not want to see any of us. Now, you help Airi carry Yukata. Shiro, help me get Akami to the hospital." Akira ordered, Shiro nodding and taking Miho's spot at Akami's legs, helping Akira carry him. Yukiji followed with a handful of paper napkins, holding them under Akira's nose. "Thanks, Yukiji."

"That looks like it hurts, Akira… Blood usually makes me faint, but I guess I'm weirdly used to it now." Yukiji said, looking and seeing Haru carry Hana toward the hospital, Kenji and Airi working to drag off Yukata

"It actually hurts a lot… I'm just glad my nose isn't broken." Akira said, sighing in relief somewhat. "I'm more worried about what this Despair Disease is. It can't just be a fever. Monokuma tends to add more to his motives. There's something else to this disease…"

"Hrm… perhaps we should ask Kenji about his brush with the Disease. That may gives us a baseline for what to expect." Shiro figured as he saw the hospital coming upon them. Once inside, the ailing students were placed into the main office, as Haru ran in deeper and started to wheel in gurneys to move the students easier. "In most hospitals, patient care is usually on the second floor." Akira mentioned, but that left Haru confused.

"...Is there an elevator or do I have to wheel people up stairs?" Haru asked, scratching behind his ear. "Cuz I'm pretty damn sure I'm not gonna be able to do that." He said, hauling Akami onto a gurney.

"There is one next to the stairs. I took it during my look through the hospital." Airi said, pointing out the elevator door. "It'll probably only fit one gurney, so we'll go one at a time." she explained, pushing Yukata's gurney up to the elevator, opening the elevator door and stepping inside.

"Hey, Kenji. Monokuma said you got a weaker strain of Despair Disease, right? Do you remember anything about that?" Akira asked as they watched the elevator doors shut.

"No, I don't… he said it was in the pizza, right? That really bad microwave pizza?" Kenji said, screwing his eyes upward as he tried to remember the events when he ate the pizza, but it all turned rather fuzzy in his head. "I think you and Yukata were there, right?"

"Oh right, you were on the ground drowning in peaches. That means the Disease probably affects the mind, or like… messes with your personality. You became weirdly desperate over stupid things." Akira said, Shiro nodding.

"Most likely the mind, given your inability to remember the events." Shiro surmised as Haru lead Hana's gurney to the elevator.

"I dunno… my memory's been pretty scattershot since we came here. Plus I wanna make sure that's what really happened when I had the Disease." Kenji argued, heading for the stairs. "I'm gonna go double check with Yukata. You guys coming with?" he asked, Shiro and Akira following after him as they headed up to the second floor. They checked the rooms, finding Yukata's and entering to see Airi helping him into a gown.

"Hey, Yukata. How are you feeling?" Kenji asked, getting a big grin from Yukata

"I'm doing great, Kenji! I have to say my insides are not boiling!" Yukata said, Airi shaking her head.

"He's been doing this the whole time. He's sort of… pretending he's fine. I don't get it." Kenji mentioned, but Akira began to gently tap her lower lip in thought.

"That's because I'm going to commit a murder later!" Yukata announced, before vomiting on the floor again. This caused gasps from the healthy students.

"The fuck!?" Kenji shouted, as Akira stared at him wide eyed.

"Tell me he did not just say that." Akira wondered, pinching her forehead.

"You better watch out, guys! I'm an asteroid!" Yukata said, waving his arms weakly.

"Kudo, has he been saying nonsense this whole time?" Shiro asked the Ultimate Spy, but she shook her head.

"He's been doing this since we all drank the punch, I'm fairly certain at least one of them was spiked. If Kenji's symptoms were exasperation and Yukata's is nonsense… What do Akami and Hana have?" Airi wondered aloud, when suddenly Haru busted the door open.

"HANA RAN OFF! Guys! Hana ran off! I don't know where she went!" Haru said, clearly panicked.

"Wh-what?! How did she run off, isn't she sick?" Akira stammered out, but Haru shook his head.

"S-she screamed at me, hopped off the gurney and threw a vase full of water in my face. She's fast, man… I guess basketball pays off." Haru explained. "Kiko's headed off to find her."

"Then perhaps we should consider searching for Okamoto. We cannot risk her running around the hospital and spreading the Disease to the other students." Shiro said.

"Right. You and Airi should check the second floor. Akira and I will go to the first floor." Kenji said, getting nods of agreement from Shiro and Akira, but Airi put a hand to her chin, tapping it.

"Hrm… perhaps we should consider having one of us watch over the other sick students in case they get the same idea. I'll keep an eye on Yukata." she offered.

"You don't gotta do that, Airi. I may be pregnant with baby spiders, but I'm just one of the guys, hanging out and being relevant!" Yukata said, before pointing at Airi. "You should know, since you lit my house on fire!"

"...Yeah, I'm gonna probably strap him to the bed if he keeps talking like that." Airi said bluntly, but Shiro marched forward, walking to the door that led to the elevator hallway and looked back at the rest of the group.

"I'm going to assist looking fo-" He was interrupted by a sudden, harsh coughing fit. A deep, wheezing sound coming from his throat as he dropped to both of his knees.

"Shiro!" Akira cried out as ran over, dropping to her knees as Shiro continued to cough with a hand over his mouth. Suddenly, blood began to drip between his fingers and down his chin. "Are you okay!? What happened!?" She grabbed him by his shoulders, trying to sit him back up so he could breath.

"I-I don't know. I… I can't breathe." Shiro said, his tongue was the color of his blood, as even more of it began to spill from his mouth. Akira gestured at one of her friends to get them to help her, and Kenji ran beside to take his other arm and lift him back to his feet.

"Shit. I guess it really was contagious…" Kenji said, tucking his nose into the collar of his shirt. Shiro leaned against the frame of the door to support his shaking legs. Akira placed the back of her palm on his forehead to check his temperature.

"I… I don't feel a fever. What other symptoms do you have?" Akira asked, concerned. Shiro looked away briefly, before replying to her.

"Just this shallow feeling in my lungs… And the room is starting to feel kind of cold. I assume I'm just getting it, usually a fever is an immune response, and my personality hasn't changed yet, not that I'm aware of." Shiro explained, Airi turning away from the group and heading to leave the building.

"I feel like it's not a good idea to be too close together like this if it's contagious. I'm going to be in my lab, where I probably have some sanitizer laying around." Airi explained, as she went out the door.

Kenji, Setsuki, and Yukiji looked at each other in concern. "Maybe she's right, Akira… We should try and treat them, but if we're all around, we'll all get sick." Kenji admitted, rubbing the back of his head as Akira looked up at Haru.

"Haru and I touched the sick students the most, so the next people who will be sick will most likely be us. If it's okay with you, Haru… I think it might be a good idea if it's just us taking care of the four who got sick." Akira asked, Haru was apprehensive, but had a concerned look on his face.

"That's fine… I just want to be useful to you guys… So I'll help take care of them, Akira." He surmised, Akira gave a little smile as she looked back at Kenji.

"Looks like The Ultimate Volunteer just got upped by a Dog Trainer." She teased, which made Kenji chuckle a little bit.

"Look, I'll come help out tomorrow morning, okay? You and I can switch every other day if that helps." Kenji added. Akira nodding as he followed Setsuki and Yukiji out of the building. Though, she noticed that Miho seemed to have left already after hauling the other students onto gurneys.

Akira figured that maybe she just went to her lab, like Airi did as she began to discuss with Haru what their next plans were. 


	30. Chapter 3: Daily Life 9

Haru and Akira decided to take shifts taking care of each of the sick students so one of them could get rest at a time. Four students seemed rather hard for one person to deal with, but the fact she was staying in the second floor's on-call room, which served as a way to go between both inpatient care rooms without having to go back to the hallway meant she was always one room away from helping all four of them.

Another thing that helped was while Shiro's condition wasn't well, he still had enough of his faculties that him being by himself wasn't too stressful. The on call room had a small chair and an end table with a lit candle sitting on the edge of it, on the wall was an intercom with several switches on it, each on representing a different room in the building.

1 and 2, were highlighted in green. And each one had 3 buttons on it correlating to each bed in the ICU, Akira figured each one was a different bed in that room, and the small hospital can have about 6 people in the ICU's total. The other button was the clinic lobby on the first floor, highlighted in a shade of amber, most likely to get nurses to haul gurneys up the elevator and into the ICU, or down the hall further to the emergency treatment center.

"Yoooo! This is Haru." The intercom buzzed out, snapping Akira out of her trance. "I found Hana! She was hiding in the mess hall. I'm bringing her up to hang out in Shiro's room. Cool?" He announced with a chipper tone. Akira smiled, taking the intercom and pressing the button on her microphone.

"Great. But to keep her from running off again… Do the beds have straps or something?" Akira asked, Haru's reply was delayed somewhat this time, before the light for room 1 activated again.

"It'd be kind of mean to hold her there 24/7.. But at least for tonight, it might be a good idea to do that. I'll strap her in, so you can talk to her." Haru added, as Akira stood up and dusted herself off, putting on a pair of surgical gloves and walking into the room Shiro, Haru, and Hana were staying. Hana was currently being pinned down by Haru, while Kiko grabbed belts and assisted Haru tying her to her bed.

"No! Noooo! Nonononono!" Hana shouted, kicking wildly in an effort to escape. "Get me out of here! I don't wanna get killed! We're all gonna die!" Hana cried out, but Haru secured her in place and left her kicking on the bed, Akira walked up to her, before looking over to Shiro to see him lying in bed with his head wrapped in a pillow to try and sleep.

Akira went back to tend to Hana, as Haru took a deep breath, since he's been running for hours to capture Hana. "I think she has… some kind of fear symptom." Haru said between gasps of air.

"So Yukata is constantly spouting nonsense and Hana is fear-stricken... has Akami come to?" Akira asked. Haru sighed and shook his head.

"He's pretty bad. His heartbeat is faint, it's like what I've seen at my mom's vet when they're near death. If you want to try waking him up… Go ahead." Haru said, Akira nodding and heading off for Akami and Yukata's room. She slowly walked in to see Akami laying on the bed, sleeping soundly. Akira got up to him and gently shook Akami's shoulder.

"Unh… wha? Oh, hey Akira…" Akami said, looking to Akira with a vacant gaze in his eyes.

"How are you feeling?" she asked.

"Awful. My stomach feels like it has several bugs crawling around in it and my throat is dry…" Akami groaned out, letting out a weak cough Akira sighed and leaned over to a nearby table to hand him something to drink, though it was just a glass of water.

"It sounds similar to everyone else's symptoms…" Akira said with a little sigh before rubbing his forehead again. "Here's hoping that we can make it for a couple more days and let the sickness fade." She said, hopefully. Akami smiled at that, and slowly sat up to drink some more of his water.

"Do you think I'll even get better?" Akami asked, looking at the floor instead of looking at her, with a frown across his face. Akira sighed and sat up from her chair. "Maybe… This is going to be a mercy killing, and yet we'll have to do the class trial anyway because of it." He said, rubbing his shoulder.

"I don't think it'll come to that... " Akira argued, yet not raising her voice to bother Yukata, who was attempting to sleep on the other side of the room. "If you keep talking like that, I'd be worried that you would try and hurt yourself." Akira mentioned out of concern.

"...Do you want me to?" Akami asked, reaching a hand up and grabbing himself by the throat. Akira gasped, grabbing his wrists and ripping them away from his throat.

"No! Not like that! Why are you doing that!?" Akira shouted as a warning, Akami began to tear up from her raising her voice, his hands trembling slightly as his bravado seemed entirely absent.

"D-do you not want me to?" Akami wondered, as Akira slowly began to realize that his personality changed as well, to test this out, she decided to experiment on him some more with her commands.

"Hrm… maybe get me a glass of water…" Akira requested. Akami nodded and got out of bed, walking to the door. "On second thought, never mind." Akira said, Akami coming to a stop. He seemed to obey anyone.

"Hey, Akami! I'm the vessel of an ancient demon!" Yukata exclaimed, sending Akami into a sudden panic. "To exercise me, I need to be set on fire!"

"R-right! Cleanse the unholy spirit! Akira, I need a book of matches and gasoline!" Akami shouted, Akira shaking her head frantically.

"No no! He's not a demon, Akami!" she quickly said, stepping between the two.

"Yeah, I'm actually just a virtual avatar in this simulation we're in! The real Yukata Watanabe died in the same car accident that killed his sister! I'm like a ghost in the machine! Nyeeehehehehe! Nothing is real! Wake up from the simulation!" Yukata explained with a weird, horse-like laugh. Akami grabbed at his head, eyes darting around the room.

"Wh-what?! We're in a simulation?! What's real? What isn't real?" Akami shrieked out, Akira sighing heavily.

"Yukata, shut up! You're not a demon, you're not a ghost and you're not an alien!" Akira complained, stomping her foot down.

"I'm the king of beeeees! Wasps can eat a dick!" Yukata said, waving his arms around, Akami joining him in this weird dance.

"All hail the king of beeeees! Bless thy soul with honey! Or pollen will fill my entrails." Akami chanted out.

"He's not the King of Bees! Bees don't have a king! They have a queen! And they have.. Bee babies! Shut up, Yukata!" Akira yelled. "Akami, get in bed and don't listen to anything Yukata says!"

"Okay." Akami said, heading for his bed when Yukata jumped onto his and began doing a bizarre, stupid-looking chicken dance.

"Dance with me if you are free! Dance the dance of freedom!" Yukata said

"Okay!" Akami exclaimed, jumping onto his bed and mimicking Yukata's chicken-dance. Akira gripped the sides of her hat before trying to force Yukata back down onto the bed.

"NO! NO! NOOO! This is wrong! This is stupid! Yukata shut up right now or I swear I will stable your mouth shut! Akami! Back to bed! Listen to me, damn it!" Akira shouted, Akami stopping his dancing and going back to bed without a word of protest. After a few minutes of struggle with Yukata, Akira stormed out of the room. 

"Putting these two in the same room was the worst decision in my entire life… This is a goddamn nightmare." Akira grumbled, looking up at the ceiling and trying to think of how to deal with this. After turning the gears in her head, Akira came to a desperate decision. "MONOKUMA! Where are you!?" she shouted, getting an immediate response.

"He's the one they call Dr. Killgood, he's gonna be your Frankenstein~ Kyahahahaha!" Monokuma announced, Akira tilting her head in confusion.

"...Isn't Frankenstein the monster?" Akira asked, scratching behind an ear.

"You don't read enough books, Akira. Frankenstein's the doctor! By the way, Thanks for missing the actual reference, I'll remember that next time I talk to you! You're kinda too boring to be a main character." Monokuma said, Akira glaring at him. "Now then, what's ailing you? What's the dealio? What's the pippity pap scalliwap?"

"...Look, I need a way to get Yukata to stop speaking nonsense so Akami stops listening to it and freaking out. It's either that or I'm going to go grey." Akira somewhat pleaded, which made Monokuma's head tilt curiously.

"Oh? Maybe frustrated enough to commit murder?" He teased, but Akira shut that notion down immediately.

"In case you haven't noticed… Not happening." Akira said bluntly.

"Fine, fine. Since you're so insistent on spoiling my fun, I'll take you to something special. To the first floor!" Monokuma declared, vanishing. Akira headed off to the elevator, going down to the first floor and seeing Monokuma outside the mess hall. "Introducing… The MonoMono Medi-Chine! Ta-daaaa~"

"...How many of these machines do you have?" Akira asked.

"Never enough! Gotta keep that Monokonomy stimulated! Just pop in the Monocoins and you'll get something!" Monokuma explained.

"...This is just the regular MonoMono Machine but with a stupid medicine pun, isn't it?" Akira asked, Monokuma grumbling in response

"Look, do you want help or not? This is what you're getting, take it or leave it!" Monokuma said, heading off once again. Akira pulled out a Monocoin, putting it into the Medi-Chine. The machine spat out a capsule, Akira opening it to get a bottle labeled _Monokuma Chewable Vitamins_. _Now with Iron!_

"...Everything is Monokuma with this guy…" Akira muttered, putting in another Monocoin. The next capsule was a Swiss Army Knife. Another try netted her a jar of shrimp paste. "Okay, now you're messing with me…" she said, tossing the jar into a bin and taking another go. She had to get something useful. This time, a roll of duct tape came out of the capsule. Akira began looking at the three items she had, thinking over how to use them to deal with Akami and Yukata. She felt the gears click and she headed back for the room.

She opened the bedroom door to find Haru inside attempting to tie Akami down to his bed as Akami struggled to escape his hold and jump out the window. "Let me go! I am a bluebird and need to fly free!" Akami cried, kicking and tossing in the bed.

"You're not a bird, Akami! Besides, those doors are locked for good! You can't going through that window unless you smash it!" Haru said, getting a strap down while Yukata kept up the claims of Akami's aviary status.

"Fly away, bird! Fly free!" Yukata exclaimed, Akira grabbing the duct tape and ripping off a piece She slapped the duct tape on over Yukata's mouth. "Mrh? Mhrhrhm! Mhhhhr!" Yukata screamed through the tape. Akira ignored this and looked for an IV drip. She needed to keep him hydrated for the time.

"If you miss the vein, Akira, don't move it around. Remove the IV, and try putting it back in again." Haru said, slowly trying to strap down Yukata so he wouldn't move around as much, just as he did with Hana earlier.

"...You know how to do that?" Akira asked, surprised slightly at Haru's sudden medical knowledge.

"My mom was a vet, so I learned some of the basics. Dogs might be different than us, but they have hearts and veins and breathe air… so it's close enough. I'm just glad I don't have to shave putting IV's in." Haru said, helping guide the needle to one of Yukata's veins. Once in, Akira walked over to Akami's bed. She undid the belt around Akami's waist, holding his shoulders when he began to jump up to start flying.

"Akami, I want you do something for me." Akira began, Akami nodding in response. She pulled out the vitamin bottle, twisting it open and pouring out all the vitamins onto the bed. "I want you to count all the vitamins and then sort them by color. Count them again by color until you fall asleep, okay?" she asked, Akami giving a bemused smile before counting each of the vitamins. Akira sighed in relief, stepping back from the bed and turning to Haru.

"His disease makes him obey orders without thinking and believe whatever people say and since Yukata keeps spouting off gibberish." Akira explained, rubbing her temples. "I need a minute, can you please just keep an eye on them? You don't have to do too much, just make sure Yukata's drip stays in and don't say anything that sounds like an order to Akami. He'll probably be counting those vitamins for a while." she requested, Haru giving a thumbs up.

"Sure thing, you mind givin' Kiko a walk while you're out? She's been on edge since the disease kicked off." Haru asked, Akira giving a thumbs up back.

"Deal. I'll be back in few minutes." she said as she walked out of the room, seeing Kiko pacing around in a circle. "Hey there, Kiko. You wanna go for a walk, girl? Haru's gonna be working for right now." Akira asked, giving two claps. Kiko smiled and let out two happy barks before walking over to Akira. The two walked down the hall and headed downstairs, Kiko hopping down each step with a squeak. She headed down to the mess hall, needing a bit of coffee to get through the night.

As the coffee bubbled and churned, Akira looked into the fridge and pulled out supplies for sandwiches, wanting to make some food for Hana, Shiro, Haru and herself. "Hm... I think a couple of BLTs will do the trick…" she thought aloud, Kiko barking in agreement. Akira downed a whole cup as she got to work on making the sandwiches, setting them neatly on a tray and pouring a few glasses of milk, Kiko handing her butter knives for spreading mayo. The two returned to the second floor via elevator, heading for Shiro and Hana's room.

Once inside, Akira looked to Hana, who was whimpering in her bed, twisting against the belts holding her down. "Good evening, Hana. You and Shiro feeling better?" she asked, getting a terrified whine from Hana in response. Shiro, sitting upright in the opposite bed, slowly raised a hand, his other hand gripping his pillow until his knuckles were white.

"I.. I would like a sandwich, Akira." he said with a small voice. Akira turned and looked to him. Along with being dressed in a hospital gown, Shiro's glasses were set on the nightstand and his hazel eyes lacked their trademark piercing sharpness, looking a lot softer. "I didn't have a lot to eat at the luau and I've been feeling a bit weak…"

Akira smiled and walked over to him. "Here you go." she said, handing him one of the sandwiches. "Would you like a glass of milk to go with it?" Akira asked, getting a light nod in response.

"Th-thank you…" Shiro said, Akira setting the glass onto the nightstand. "How are Akami and Yukata doing?" he asked, Akira breathing in a bit.

"They've been doing horrible. Yukata just keeps making up more ridiculous lies. I had to tape his mouth shut. And Akami believes and does anything you tell him. I… It's a bad loop. Yukata spouts nonsense, and then Akami has to believe it." Akira said, pulling some of her bangs from her face. Shiro furrowed his brow before speaking.

"So… Is that why you've only made food for four of us?" He asked, coughing lightly between breaths and looking away from her, avoiding eye contact.

"I'll have to make food for them when things calm down… I'm fighting a migraine with sheer amounts of coffee." Akira explained, rubbing her temple and taking another sip of coffee and sitting on a nearby char. "I'm just glad Hana's calmed down… well, it's more like lowering her volume, I can't say that she's exactly calm right now."

"W-well… I hope they get better soon. I mean, I hope we all do, but I'm no too bothered with taking some time to recover. I just… hope everyone will be alright." He said, looking at his sandwich pensively.

"I'm trying to figure out what personality change has happened to you. You seem kinda… shy. Sort of like Yukiji" Akira guessed.

"I-I do?" he asked timidly.

"Yeah… it's weird, but it's not the worst thing that could happen. Makes thing a little easier to not have you screaming or flailing around like a lunatic. I guess we're lucky that not all the versions are so bad." Akira said, taking another long sip of coffee. "Well, eat up, Shiro. You'll need food to help the Disease pass through your system. I'll be back in a bit after I check on Akami and Yukata." she said, patting Shiro on the shoulder. Shiro gave a smile, biting into his sandwich as she got up to leave.

The hours passed as Akira took over duties tending to the sick while Haru rested in the on-call room. She alternated between the two rooms, Kiko following her for a while and helping out before tiring out. "You can go on and sleep, Kiko. I've got things from here." Akira said, Kiko barking and heading for the on-call room. As the patients finally began to sleep, Akira's workload had decreased to simply making sure nothing woke them.

 _Ding Dong, Dong Ding!_

"Goooood morning, students! We here at Enoshima University hope that our students ailing under the Despair Disease are feeling just a little bit better from a good night's sleep! The rest of the you enjoy this bea~utiful new day!" came the Monokuma announcement came from the monitor, Akira groaning as she got up from bed.

"So damn tired…" she grumbled, stretching as she got up, rubbing her sore shoulders. "I gotta go make breakfast." she said to herself as she shuffled out of the on-call room. She took the elevator down, wiping the bags on her eyes as she yawned.

"What the hell do I make…?" Akira muttered out, not wanting to take too long to make breakfast for at least four people. She entered the mess hall, head heavy as she looked through the pantry. Eventually, she came upon a wrapped loaf of bread. "Screw it, sandwich time." she said, throwing the loaf onto the counter and raiding the fridge. She got the cold cuts, cheese, mayonnaise, ketchup and some relish. The sandwich-making process took longer as her head bobbed and her eyes fluttered in her tiredness. She shook it aside as she kept working, untwisting the cap on the mayonnaise, she began to spread the mayonnaise on each one when there was a sudden crash and a high-pitched shriek echoing through the hospital.

"Ahh! Wh-what?!" Akira exclaimed as she rushed out of the kitchen, trying to find the source of the scream. She soon found Hana running for the hospital doors. "Hana? What are you doing-" she began to ask, Hana turning to face her with wide, panicked eyes.

"H-he tried to kill me! He pulled a knife on me!" Hana said shakily, Akira matching her terrified gaze briefly.

"What? Who tried to kill you?" Akira inquired further.

"Sh-Shiro! He unstrapped me and said he was gonna cut my throat open. Th-then he pulled out a knife a-and-" Hana sputtered out, Akira pulling her in for a hug.

"Shhh, Hana. It's okay. Shiro's not gonna hurt you. He's like a scared little kitten right now. He couldn't hurt anyone." Akira said in a comforting tone.

"B-b-but, but-" Hana stammered, Akira patting her on the head.

"Just breathe, Hana. Shiro was probably just trying to help you. The Despair Disease is messing with your head. Come on. Let's get you back to your room." Akira said, trying to walk Hana back to the second floor. It ended up feeling more like dragging her as Hana kept her feet firmly planted to the floor. It took a few minutes to finally force Hana back to the room as she kept grabbing onto anything within reach and latching on. Akira forced her through the elevator doorframe while Hana kept shouting.

"Let me tell you what I always did when I was afraid." Akira said in between labored breaths, nearly stumbling the two of them into the elevator to make the trip shorter for the police cadet. "I always counted backwards, nice and slow whenever something scared me in the dark. The more scared I was, the bigger the number I started from." Akira explained as she walked up to the door of Hana and Shiro's room, leaving her at the door frame.

"So… Get back into your bed, and count backward from 1000. I'll be up with breakfast in a few minutes, then Haru will probably get up and help you guys out while I sleep. Then we can get Kenji to come help. " Akira continued, as Hana nodded her head softly and turned away from her.

"O-okay…" Hana muttered, as she started to count backward from 1000 under her breath. Akira closed the bedroom door. She felt like she should admonish Shiro for scaring her… But considering the hysteria Hana can fly into, she might have just made the whole thing up as a reason to be scared about something. That, and she was too tired to bother.  
Akira drug her feet, walking back to the elevator and heading back down to the first floor kitchen, to finish her very lazy breakfast. The sandwiches looked finished, so Akira slid them all onto a single plate and tried her best waitress impression. She headed for the elevator a record breaking third time as she went back to Hana and Shiro's room. Hana was counting on her fingers, and Shiro was trying to tuck the covers of his sheets back into his bed.

"Hey guys. I got breakfast!" Akira said, forcing a bit of chipperness in her voice, even though she set off on the wrong foot and nearly tripped over the air as she crossed the door's threshold. Akira managed to catch the sandwich tray before walking into the room.

"I… I didn't want to spend Monocoins on pop. So sorry guys, you all just have to drink water instead. It's probably healthier for you anyway." Akira said as she down a sandwich for Shiro. Hana warily eyed the sandwich Akira handed to her, still trying to count down. "It's not poisoned, Hana. Trust me, I'm not out to kill anyone…" she said reassuringly. Hana eventually took the sandwich, pausing her count between bites.

"Now to give Akami and Yukata their food… I'm kind of not a fan of the idea of taking duct tape off Yukata's mouth, but whatever…" Akira said, picking up the tray and leaving the room, not wanting to wake Haru just yet, she walked through the hallway instead and went inside. Yukata seemed vacant, staring at a wall in sheer disinterest from being unable to lie, wrists tied over his head to stop him from removing the duct tape.

"Hey Akira." Akami greeted her. Some of his makeup ran off, his freckles were smattering his cheeks and nose, and his hair was now disheveled.

"Feeling better, Akami?" she asked, setting down a sandwich for him.

"No. I think I'm getting worse…" Akami said weakly. Akira sighed and softly walked over to place her hand on his forehead.

"You're red hot…" She realized, pouring him another glass of water from the nearby sink and placing it next to his table. "Try and drink more water… You should sweat your fever by staying in your blankets, so keep drinking water to make up for all the sweating you'll be doing." She advised, Akami nodding and drinking his water tentatively.

"I left you some breakfast, so… Eat it when you feel hungry, alright?" Akira said with a friendly hat tipping at him, and a friendly, helpful smile on her face. Akami nodded, the smile spreading to him as well. She reached up, ruffling his hair a little in her hand as she turned to Yukata and took a deep, beleaguered sigh. "Here we go. Yukata time." she said, walking up to his bed and grabbing him by the chin. Using her other hand, she grabbed the edge of the duct tape and ripped it straight off.

"Ow! That felt awesome! Do it again, but on my eyes!" Yukata exclaimed as the tape came off with a forced enthusiasm in his voice, and tears rolling down his cheeks.

"Sorry?" Akira said, wondering if Yukata was pretty much saying the opposite of what he means for the most part. "I made you some breakfast when you want it… Let me unbuckle your hands." She said, softly peeling the tape off his hands, before leaving the sandwich on the end table beside him.

"I hate food. You're a jerk, I breathe through my skin!" Yukata shouted as he grabbed the sandwich, taking a bite. Akira was thankful that even though he was spouting lies, Yukata wasn't gonna try too hard to keep up the lie. She let out a yawn as she began to feel a dizzy spell coming on, a sure sign she was at her limit.

"I need to wake up Haru, like… now." Akira said, getting up and holding her head as she walked out, going to the on-call room. Haru was asleep, his large body packed tightly on the bunk bed in the room, with Kiko sleeping on his head, as he was face first in the pillows. "Haru, wake up. It's your turn." she said, shaking his shoulder. Haru slowly rolled over, waking up with a yawn. Kiko hopped off his head and onto his shoulder as he sat up.

"7 AM already? Damn… It felt like I slept for an hour." Haru said, rubbing his sore shoulder.

"Yeah, sleep messes with you like that. And speaking of…" Akira said, flopping onto the bed. "I've had it…" Akira said, stuffing a pillow over the top of her head. Haru chuckled and got off the bed.

"Got it. Have a good sleep, Akira. C'mon, Kiko." Haru said, leaving the on-call room.

The moment Akira's head hit the pillow, she was out like a blown candle. She's never felt so relieved in her life as she finally got some rest. Hopefully when she woke up, Kenji will show up and take her spot as a caretaker. At least, that was until her rest was interrupted.  
q  
"Wake up, Akira. Are you there?" Shiro asked, Akira slowly opening her eyes.

"Huh? Shiro, what are you doing here? You should be in bed right now…" She said, her voice slurred from the exhaustion still settled in her bones.

"I heard a scream… I want you to come check it out with me. I-I don't know what happened." he said, pressing the tips of his index fingers together nervously.

"A scream? It wasn't Hana, was it?" Akira asked.

"N-no, the voice sounded less hysterical, more like a strained yell, if that makes sense. I feel like someone might have gotten hurt." Shiro said. Akira getting up and leaving the on-call room with Shiro following behind her.

"Where did you hear the scream coming from?" Akira asked.

"It sounded like it was muffled slightly. It might've been outside. Should we wake up the others?" Shiro asked, his pace was deliberate, but a bit slower than Akira would expect. He was still sick after all.

"I don't think we have the time. We're heading outside!" Akira said as she marched down the stairs and to the lobby on the first floor. Shiro began to cough and sputter, slowing down as he grabbed both hands on the rail.

"P-please wait!" Shiro pleaded as he collapsed to one knee and started to cough up more blood. Akira ran back, grabbing him by his arm and slinging it over one shoulder to carry him out the front door. Haru and Setsuki were standing together, facing the building and looking up at something as Akira and Shiro met the two of them outside.

"Are you okay!? Guys!?" Akira shouted, as they didn't respond to her. Suddenly, a drop of blood landed on her forehead. She slowly began to look up as she felt the life drained from her from the sheer sight.

Akami was hanging from his neck out the hospital window, his hands and fingers dripping blood as his eyes were rolled back in his head. More blood caked the makeshift noose around his neck as his body slowly swayed in the breeze.

"A-Akami…" Akira sputtered out, as she covered her mouth to try and stifle a scream.

 _Ding dong dong ding!_

"A body has been discovered! After a brief investigation, we will hold another class trial!" Monokuma announced, as a silence fell on all four students as the video feed turned to static on a nearby monitor.


	31. Chapter 3: Deadly Life

Chapter 3: Hula Hula, Monokuma (Deadly Life)

Akira realized she spent nearly a few minutes staring at Akami's corpse. She began to fall out of her trance to see the people surrounding her. Setsuki was on her knees, her face in her hands as she tried to fight the tears. Haru was clenching a fist so hard that his nails were starting to cut into his palms, and Shiro was staring at the ground, a hand over his mouth. No one was sure how to break the silence, then came the other students.

"Akira! Are you okay!?" Kenji came running toward the small group in front of the hospital. Akira just pointed up at the body, which made Kenji's face wrinkle in frustration.

"I… I don't know what happened, Kenji." Akira finally gathered enough focus to speak up. "Everything was going fine. Everything was going to turn out okay, and the moment I look away… Everything turned to chaos." Akira complained, sitting onto the ground and punching the stone underneath her.

"What do you mean!? Can you explain what happened?" Kenji pleaded his friend, but Haru stepped in front of her with a mournful look on his face.

"She's been up all night, Kenji… I think we should just let her rest before the trial." Haru explained, Kenji's expression softening somewhat as he looked up at his taller friend. "Her shift ended, and I went down to make breakfast for everyone. Then I heard Setsuki cry out… And that's all I know at the moment." He explained, Kenji rubbing his chin as Airi, Reiko, and Yukiji joined the fold.

Yukiji couldn't look at what everyone else was, but hearing Monokuma's announcement just moments before, he knew exactly why everyone was here. Reiko was clutching her hand against one of her arms, gritting her teeth in anger. "Which one of you sonofvabitches did it!? Fess up!" She demanded in anger, but Kenji tried his best to focus on the task at hand.

"We'll have to figure that out at the trial, Reiko." Kenji replied, a hand pulling some of his hair out of his face as he looked at the hospital. "I… I thought this was over. I thought we were stronger than this killing game, and now we're here… investigating another murder." Kenji sullenly mused, but Shiro walked up and placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Kenji… You're one of the better investigators. I think you and Airi should take over for Akira for now… She's in a bad condition." Shiro explained, turning to Akira, who was quietly drawing a circle on the ground with a finger, her eyes being hidden by her hat.

"Me and Airi, specifically?" Kenji wondered, Shiro adjusting his glasses before replying to him.

"I imagine Monokuma will probably cure all the students with Despair Disease, to make sure the class trial will be fair." Shiro theorized, Kenji looked over at Airi, who nodded softly.

"I think that's a fair conclusion. I imagine Hana and Yukata won't be able to be used as persons of interest." Airi said, backing Shiro's sentiment.

"Well, alright. I'm ready when you are, Airi." Kenji said, getting a nod from Airi in response as they entered the hospital. Kenji put his hands into his pockets as he went up the elevator and went to the infirmary.

The two doors, sitting side to side about 25 feet apart. Kenji went over to the first one to open the door. The room seemed empty, except for Hana laying there on her bed, Monokuma hovering over her wearing a mask of himself.

"Hey Hana, it's your dear ol pal, Monokuma. Why don't you come with me, to my secret lab so I can cure you of your Despair Disease?" He asked, tilting his head. But Hana hugged her pillow, shaking her head.

"Is that a no? Thought so…" He announced, reaching up to take his Monokuma mask off to reveal that… He was indeed Monokuma. "SURPRISE! You're comin' with me, missy!" He growled, unbuckling her belt and causing her to hop off her bed and run through the door, nearly slamming into Kenji as she went past.

"I thought my Monokuma disguise would get her to trust me, but now I have to chase her around the campus!" The bear complained, shaking his head before looking at Kenji.

"...What are you doing?" Kenji asked, Monokuma hopping onto the edge of Hana's bed, kicking his pawpads gently from side to side as he looked at the two investigating students.

"I need to cure the other students of Despair Disease before the class trial. But Hana's being a butt." Monokuma said, hopping off the bed and onto his feet with a squeak toy like sound. "Now I have to go get my dart gun… Don't let me interrupt your investigation, folks! By the way, I left Yukata tied up. So don't forget to go get him, kay?" He mentioned before walking off, coming to a stop at the door.

"Oh, right! Before I go, I think it's time to present… the Monokuma File! Ta-daaa~" Monokuma said, the Monopads pinging. Kenji and Airi pulled out their Monopads, opening them up to read the new file. "I used to actually give people the file, but I realized I could just update your Monopads. I'm still getting used to that!" He added, before hopping off.

 _Monokuma File #3:_

 _Akami Sakiko_

 _Time of Death, roughly 8:15 AM. Wrists have been sliced and drained of most blood. There are also several dozen small cuts along the sides of his neck. There are also signs of swelling around his neck._

"I feel like that might have to be checked when we retrieve Akami from the window." Airi added, closing her Monopad and placing it back in her pocket. __

"From a glance, I don't think there is anything out of place in this room, aside from messy sheets." Airi noticed, but Kenji wanted to double check, just to make sure.

"You don't need to stay in the room with me, Airi. I'm just going to do a onceover so I don't miss anything. I'll join you in the other room shortly." He said, walking to each bed and doing a surprisingly thorough search of each bed, cabinet and shelf. Though, he didn't find anything tampered with, and unless Akami was murdered with an IV bag, there wouldn't be any evidence of note in Hana's room.

Kenji looked back behind him to see that Airi went through the On-Call room to the other side, and decided to follow her into the actual crime scene. The room itself was in chaos. Things were knocked off the tables, and the ground was covered in bloodstains. Kenji, carefully avoiding the blood on the floor began to inspect the shelves attached to the wall. There was a roll of duct tape sitting on the edge of the table, sitting ontop of bloodstains.

"Mhmhmh!" Yukata mumbled out through his duct tape, snapping Kenji's attention behind his back to see what had happened to his friend. He had both hands behind his head, duct taped to the bed frame, more duct tape covered his mouth, which began to crinkle from his struggled breaths.

"Yukata!" Kenji shouted as he ran over to the bed and ripped the duct tape recklessly off of his mouth. Yukata releasing a sharp yelp of pain from the stinging sensation of it being ripped off his face.

"OH BOOOOOOOY!" Yukata screamed in pain, despite his body telling him to like. "I REALLY LIKED THAT, KENJI." He said, his voice at top volume, despite him not being able to realize it. "IF YOU DID THAT EVERY WAKING SECOND, I WILL MARRY YOU!"

"I… kind of don't want to know what you really meant, that time." Kenji said, turning to Airi. "Mind helping me get him out of all this duct tape?" he asked. Airi walked over and the two began ripping strips of tape off the bed, freeing Yukata. He stood up, adjusting his wrists before a dart suddenly hit him on the side of his neck, sending him to the floor in a heap.

In the doorway, Monokuma, wearing a safari hat began to speak in a very proper, British sounding voice. "I believe I have caught my target, and will begin to capture and tag him for observation! Puhuhu… I hope I get to see a wild pack of card game nerds in the wild!" Monokuma declared, waddling over to the unconscious Yukata and prodding him with a toy spear.

"Do you really have to tranquilize him? I thought you were just tranquilizing Hana." Kenji complained, but Monokuma just grit his teeth in frustration.

"I got the dart gun out, and I'm gonna use it, damn it! Now shush up before I decide you might need a big fat dose of horse tranquilizers to shut ya up for me!" Monokuma shouted, waving his dart gun at Kenji.

"I should hope you are using the right dosage. Too much and you may end up killing three students…" Airi pointed out.

"It'd only be about two! I don't need to tranq Shiro! He offered to come with me!" Monokuma said with a devious chuckle before vanishing again.

"Anyway… we'll need to check with Akira about why Yukata was taped up. What should we do now?" Kenji asked.

"I'm thinking we start with the room. Something happened here and I want to get a full idea of the damage." Airi said. Kenji nodding and looking around the room. One of the most obvious things he could tell considering the state of Akami, is somehow he's hanging out the window.

"It's weird that the window was opened…" Kenji said, walking closer to it and inspecting it further. "Hospital windows don't open, and are typically always locked. I guess that means who did this managed to jury rig the window to open." He surmised, but Airi pointed at something he didn't notice.

There was a Swiss army knife propping the window closed by being placed at a 45 degree angle to the window and the windowsill, preventing Akami from falling to the ground. "To inspect the body, we need someone to catch Akami's body on the ground, I don't think we can pull it back up. So let's do that last." Airi said, turning her eyes back to the rest of the room.

Kenji returned to what he was looking at, the roll of duct tape sitting on the shelf. He picked it up, and began to inspect it. Putting two and two together, Kenji figured the culprit must have used it to shut up Yukata. "Kenji, look at where the duct tape was sitting." Airi demanded, Kenji focused his eyes on the table before him as he tried to see where the duct tape was sitting.

"I uhh… Can't see exactly where this was placed." Kenji muttered, but Airi walked beside him and rubbed her chin. There was flecks of blood all over the table, so it was hard to tell the exact location of the duct tape he just picked up.

"That's the point. Isn't it weird how the duct tape is clean, and there isn't a void where it was sitting? It might have been placed here after the blood splatters… just keep that in mind for later." Airi explained, Kenji not really following her on this.

"And in the similar subject… There seems to be a lot of strange, inconsistent blood stains on the ground as well." Airi continued, walking over to the windowsill and looking at the pool of blood on the ground.

"See this? This is a standing pool of blood, rather than a splatter. And it appears something was dragged through it." Airi explained, Kenji walking over to look at it as well. It was a rounded pool of blood, through the center was swiped toward the window.

"...Does that mean anything? What does a pool of blood, rather than a splatter imply?" Kenji asked, curiously. Airi looked back at him, squatting down low enough to check for footprints.

"A standing pool means there was no velocity to the impact, a very slow, deliberate drawing of blood. If he was stricken, the size of the pool would be different than this." Airi continued, as Kenji noticed something under Akami's bed. A shining reflection of the light from the windowsill.

He slid his hand under the bed and felt a cold piece of metal. Grabbing it and drawing his hand back, he realized what he was holding was a scalpel, the tip coated in fresh blood. "I think I just found the murder weapon, Airi…" Kenji mentioned, Airi looking behind her to inspect it as well.

"That would be exactly what we would be looking for, for this kind of blood stain. But… With this much blood, don't you think any of the students would have blood stains on them?" Airi asked, as she looked around the room, eyes settling on a hazardous waste bag behind Kenji's shoulder.

"I mean… I thought there would be. But I didn't see any blood on anyone except maybe Akira's head. But I imagine some of Akami's blood was dripping out when Akira went outside to see the body." Kenji assumed, but Airi pushed her foot on the lever of the can, causing it to open.

"You could assume that, but assuming isn't going to help us. On the contrary… I found something interesting in this waste container." Airi continued, Kenji following her to see what she was looking at. Inside the container, there were a pair of surgical gloves, seemingly worn and covered in blood on the inside, which would formerly be the outside of the gloves.

Ontop of that, there was a hospital gown, also containing blood stains. Some on the top, near the collar line, and the other near the wrists. "I… I'm not sure we should be touching these." Kenji mentioned, Airi sighing a bit as she reached up, grabbing another pair of surgical gloves, putting them on, and sifting through the container carefully.

"I hope I don't hit a needle in there." Airi mentioned, as she pulled out both the gloves, and the hospital gown. After removing both, she checked the now empty container for anything else inside, but it seemed to be empty except for scraps of crumpled paper.

"I think that about does it. We should try and retrieve Akami's body next." Airi concluded. She walked back over to the window, leaning against it and gripping the swiss army knife in her hand. "Kenji, get Haru to help you catch Akami on the outside. When you're ready, I'll release him from the window. Be absolutely sure not to damage his body when he falls, we need this for the class trial." She added, but Kenji felt a chill in his spine from the idea.

"C-catch Akami's corpse? Are you serious?" Kenji asked, but Airi just nodded her head, taking her surgical gloves off and tossing them aside.

"Fine… I'll try, just… Tell me when you're doing it, okay?" Kenji acquiesced, before heading back down to the first floor and looking at the remaining students in front of him. Yukiji, Haru, Reiko, and a exhausted Akira.

"So… Did you figure out something?" Haru asked him, he looked down and away as he spoke.

"Not yet… I'm getting a couple of ideas, but not much else just yet." Kenji mentioned, tucking his hands in his pockets as he looked directly at Haru. "But… I need you to do something." Kenji mentioned, Haru raising one of his brows as Kenji continued. "We need to catch Akami's body to inspect it." Kenji explained, but earned a shudder from Haru.

"Are you serious? I.. I have to catch his body?" Haru said, clearly upset by the idea. Kenji sighed, looking up at Akami's body hanging.

"It's the only way we can solve the mystery, Haru… Please, do it for Akami." Kenji added, as Haru took a deep breath, walking forward and underneath where Akami was positioned, as Airi's voice was projected from the window.

"Are you ready, Haru? I'll release Akami on 3." She announced, Haru nodding his head quietly as she reached up, gripping the swiss army knife holding the window shut. "3…2… 1!" She counted down, pulling the window back open as Akami dropped to the ground, only to be stopped by Haru catching him in his arms. The blanket slowly drifted down in the wind, only to be caught by Kenji.

"That's weird…" Kenji muttered as he inspected the blanket, which was covered in hundreds of droplets of blood. "This wasn't tied in a knot, it was just pinched in the frame of the window, and when Akami fell, it just let go of him." Kenji added as he set the blanket on the floor. He then walked to Haru, who was gingerly placing Akami on the ground.

"Now I have to inspect the body." Kenji said, trying to stop his hands from shaking as he reached up to lightly pull some of Akami's hair from his face. Noticing he died with a pained expression on his face. Another thing he noticed right away was the fact Akami's neck was covered in scratch marks. Some were light, and some were deep enough to break the skin. Down at his hands, both his wrists were sliced open, but his fingernails had blood underneath them as well.

"These wounds are so weird… And the Monokuma file suggested he was swelling around his neck." Kenji muttered out, Haru scratching his chin scruff as the two of them looked at his body. "I think he might have been scratching at his neck, for some reason… But why so aggressively?" He added, as he stood up and took a deep breath.

"Honestly… I think I've done all that I've could. There may be other rooms in the hospital, but it seems like the entire crime scene was Akami's room. They did nothing to hide the body, and even presented it out in the open for everyone to see." Kenji added, as he looked at the other students, who gave him some distance.

"I'll probably try and question each of you during the class trial, so… Are you guys ready?" Kenji asked, getting a solemn nod from them as Airi joined back up. Kenji reached down to pat Akira on her shoulder to get her attention.

"Are… are you done investigating?" Akira asked, rubbing her eyes. Kenji nodded softly as she stood back up and slowly went back toward the main building so each of them can meet up. The long walk back saw everyone moving in silence. Yukiji stayed close by Akira, trying to comfort her. Reiko was falling back, arms folded and hands tight. Setsuki was being helped to the campus by Haru, having now been witness to two bodies since they got locked in this twisted school. Airi walked up to Kenji, brow furrowed in thought.

"You have any idea who did this?" Airi asked, but Kenji sighed, shaking his head.

"The only two who weren't sick were Haru and Akira… But I can't imagine either of them doing it. Could I be wrong?" Kenji asked, worry in his voice.

"There's nothing conclusive for either of them as suspects, but we can't ignore the possibility that one of them did it." Airi responded as they stepped through the doors, walking up to the statue of Junko Enoshima. The statue once again pushed back, allowing the elevator to rise up in front of them. The door opened to Monokuma awaiting them, Kenji taking slow steps toward the elevator.

 _The sun rises on another class trial. And when it-_

"Wait!" Akira exclaimed, breaking the silence of the room. "Where's Miho?!" she asked, Kenji stopping and looking at the assembled students. With the exception of Akami, who was no longer with them, and the three who were being treated for Despair Disease, there were six other students in his sights; Akira, Yukiji, Airi, Haru, Setsuki and Reiko. Miho should've heard the announcement…

"Did anyone see Miho while they were running to the hospital?" Kenji asked, getting shakes of heads.

"I haven't seen her since we moved the patients to the hospital." Setsuki said, Yukiji nodding in agreement. Kenji turned his eyes to Reiko, who gave him an angry glare in response.

"Don't fuckin' look at me. You think I'd go lookin' for that bitch?" Reiko asked curtly, Kenji sighing at that.

"So, guess we'll have to go looking for her." Kenji said, the elevator shutting behind him. Kenji turned around to Monokuma "Monokuma, do you know where Miho is?" he asked.

"Yep. And since I wanna get this Class Trial started, I'll tell you that you can find her at the pool." Monokuma said, the group breaking into a run. They made it to the pool in no time, Kenji running for the pool room door. Kenji turned the knob and pushed forward, only to feel the door suddenly drop, sending him crashing onto the floor ontop of the fallen door.

"Ack! Damn it! What?!" Kenji shouted as he forced himself to his feet, looking around the pool room. The pool room had broken tiles on the walls, mixed with blood stains on the floor and walls. The whole place looked wrecked.

"What happened in here? Did a tornado run through it?" Setsuki asked as the group went through the door frame.

"I don't know… but Monokuma said she was in here…" Kenji said, heading for the locker rooms. The men's locker room, despite Kenji being pretty sure that nothing was in it, was easily opened and shown to be empty. He turned to the women's locker room, which proved much harder to open. The handle turned, but the door itself wouldn't budge. "Come on, stupid door! Open up! Reiko! Haru! A little help here?" he asked, Reiko and Haru slamming their shoulders against the door, breaking it off its hinges and sending them spilling over a bench.

Akira and Kenji both leaned against the door to look inside, but the sight made Akira cry out and collapse on her knees.

Miho's limp body was leaning against the back of a chair with her head down, and a blood soaked towel over her head, which was facing down on the ground in a small pool of blood. "No!... No…" Akira muttered out as tears began to pour down her face.

 _Ding Dong Dong Ding_

"A body has been discovered! After a brief investigation, a class trial will be hel-... This feels really familiar. Deja Vu, huh? Finish your investigation and we'll get this class trial started!" Monokuma announced with a pump of his fist, before the screen shut off once more.

Miho was dead.


	32. Chapter 3 Deadly Life 2

Chapter 3: Deadly Life 2

Akira was in complete shock, her head buried against the floor with her hands over her head as she tried tried to stay together. Kenji couldn't even look at her or he would start crying, so he took a breath and stepped forward. "Airi… Should we investigate here too?" Kenji asked, trying to cover his emotions from taking control.

"I suppose so." Airi added, shutting her eyes and putting on a completely stoic expression as she walked up to Miho's head, currently draped in a towel. She ripped it away to reveal her face. She had a terrored expression, eyes shot wide open, hair soaked in water and sticking to her face. Her lips were blue, and her skin was pale.

"Oh! You're gonna need this. I'm not late this time, see?" Monokuma announced, popping up between Miho and Airi. Airi jumped back from being surprised, but covered her mouth so she didn't audibly gasp.

"Monokuma file numero.. Uhh… four!" He announced, a chime ringing in all the student handbooks for them to read.  
 _  
Monokuma File #4_

 _Miho Ishii  
Time of Death: ?_

 _Neck appears to be broken and there are cuts and abrasions on her body mostly on her arms, and her head. There also seem to be signs of hypoxia similar to drowning. There is also a large blunt blow to the back of her head._

"I think she might have drowned… be it if someone drowned her, or she ended up drowning because of circumstances." Airi added, gently cupping a thumb and an index finger under her chin and lifting her head slightly, using her other hand to close her eyes and make her seem more at rest.

Airi then ran a hand along her hair, until she got to the back of her head, she raised her hand, noticing it was covered in blood. "So the blow was to the back of her head… It could have been a baseball bat, or a similar blunt object like a pipe." Airi said, before looking behind her and watching as Haru embraced Akira to give her a shoulder to cry on. Kenji was on one knee, looking at her hands.

"Her hands are so wrinkled. And they have splotches on them. I think she might have drowned, or was in the pool a really long time." Kenji observed, Airi looking around the room. Her eyes fell on a vent near the ground that was off its screws. She softly got on her knees and inspected the dimensions of it.

"Say, Kenji… Do you think this is wide enough to climb through?" Airi asked, Kenji walking over to check the vent with her.

"Hm… Maybe, you would have to lift your arms over your head so your shoulders don't get stuck." Kenji mentioned, trying to replicate the action, sliding belly first through the locker room's broken vent and ending up on the other side, facing a ladder that went to the pool building's skylight window.

"This is the ladder Setsuki set up to jump off the roof." Kenji said, getting a wide eyed look from his investigation partner.

"Setsuki used this to jump off the roof!?" She exclaimed, before clearing her throat and going back to her more stoic speaking style. "I guess there's a hatch on the roof you can climb through?" Airi asked.

"Yeah. The outer windows of the skylight open up and let you climb to the roof with that step ladder. It scared the hell out of me, but Setsuki's extreme, so I guess she likes the thrill." Kenji explained. "We had to be careful getting out of the pool from how slippery everything was, there was water everywhere." he said, sliding back down the vent. He stopped when he felt a sudden tugging sensation. He looked to see his shirt had caught on a corner of the short vent between rooms. He reached back, using his finger to unhook the fabric of his shirt from the ventway, but dropping a black piece of cloth with it. As he slid out, he picked up the black cloth.

"Huh, looks like somebody lost part of their shirt…" Kenji said, Airi looking at the cloth with a discerning eye.

"Right." Airi said, continuing to scan the room. Her eyes caught a wall clock, smashed on the floor, there was a bloodstain on the wall where the clock used to be, some of the tile walls were chipped and on the floor in a fine powder. Airi leaned up, sliding her finger on the bloodstain, to find it was completely dry to the touch.

"Did someone hit their head last night, Kenji?" she asked, Kenji thinking back.

"No. Not even Setsuki, believe it or not." he said, Airi nodding and then turning back to the clock. The hour hand was stopped at 12.

"Hm… whatever knocked the clock off the wall, it struck sometime around midnight. That gives us a bit of a timeframe, but there's really not a lot to go off of. This whole thing feels… sloppy, compared to what happened with Akami… It's like the culprit panicked." Airi said, examining the room once more. "But I feel like something's missing here…"

The monitor in the corner of the room clicked back on. "Hey, hey, hey! You guys are taking forever! I get that it's two investigations, but it's been waaaaay too long. Hustle! Hustle hustle!" Monokuma barked out, shaking a curled paw furiously.

"Well, looks like we're gonna have to get a move on." Kenji said with a sigh as the two left the pool room, rejoining the group. Akira was still a wreck, Haru resorting to carrying her to the main building since he wasn't sure she could do it herself. Kenji joined up with them. "We're gonna find who did this, Akira. We haven't been wrong yet…" he said reassuringly, being met with silence from Akira.

The students returned to the campus, stopping at the elevator once again. Kenji was now steeling his nerves at the idea of having to solve two murders; one was nearly a perfect crime without a single witness, and the other was a chaotic mess without a solid through line or plan. The only thing Kenji knew is one, or possibly maybe even more are at fault, and they were standing on the same elevator as him.

"...Monokuma, when are the others gonna be joining us?" Kenji asked, seeing none of the students afflicted with Despair Disease in the elevator.

"Well, Kenji, this is a very unusual circumstance for me, and I'll have to go into more detail at the class trial. They've been administered a cure and are waiting at the trial podiums for the rest of you to arrive! So, it's not when they're gonna be joining you, but when you're gonna be joining them, you see?" Monokuma explained, Kenji nodding in response.

Akira still laid in Haru's arms, motionless and quiet. Yukiji had taken on of her hands in his, saying nothing as well. Reiko leaned against the wall, shooting glares at everyone else. Airi was staring up at the ceiling light, trying to organize her thoughts before the trial. Setsuki sat at the floor, tucking her face in her beanie as Kenji thought to himself.

He wasn't sure anyone was ready for another class trial, despite the fact it was only a few minutes before a long, heinous debate would have to start that would fracture everyone's trust. With a hard thud, the elevator hit the floor. Kenji went down the hall and saw Shiro, Hana and Yukata waiting at the podiums, each one lost in thought.

 _The sun rises on two class trials. And when it sets, one or more of us will be dead and our lives in Enoshima University will never be the same._


	33. CLASS TRIAL 3

**CLASS TRIAL! ALL RISE!**

 _All the students assembled at the trial podiums, though with Miho and Akami's stations replaced with memorials for both of them, as was Dahlia's. Shiro rested a knuckle against his chin as the remaining students approached the podium. This time it was a Luau themed courtroom with tiki torches, and Monokuma sitting underneath the shade of the palm tree. All the walls were painted with waves._

 **Monokuma:** Now I'm preeeetty sure you guys all know the rules on how the class trial works. So I feel like me explaining it again would be a pleasantry. Albeit, this one has some bizarre circumstances behind it. I'll keep a light touch on all of you unless I need to clarify something!

 **Monokuma Cont'd:** A special rule for this trial, is that the students that have the Despair Disease cannot be used as witnesses, since they don't remember anything! In that sense, they also were not used for the body discovery announcement! **  
**  
 **Monokuma Cont'd:** Now let's get the funky, electrifying, shimmy-shakin' Class Trial underway! Let's boogie!

 **Reiko Ono** : What in the fuck are we even doing? There were two murders, are we gonna have to have 2 fuckin' class trials back to back?

 **Monokuma** : Nah, it's just one. You know how I have a 'very special' punishment for someone, and the whole stage opens up for an elaborate punishment?

 **Monokuma Cont'd** : Yeah… This is real life, and I can't have to very special punishments in the same room, unless they had to compete for space. Even I'm not that omniscient.

 **Reiko Ono** : ...So there's one Class Trial.

 **Monokuma** : Yep!

 **Reiko Ono** : And that means we only vote for one guy?

 **Monokuma** : Yeppers!

 **Reiko Ono** : And that means, we only have one murder to solve.

 **Monokuma** : On the right track!

 **Reiko Ono** : Then who the fuck is this class trial for!?

 **Monokuma** : You figure that out, what do you want, for me to hold your hand? I thought you were more self sufficient than that, Reiko! You want me to tell you who killed who for ya?

 **Reiko Ono** : Oh, fuck you too, Winnie-the-Piece of Shit! You're no fucking help!

 **Airi Kudo** : What if we happen to solve the murder that we aren't voting for?

 **Monokuma** : If the murder that this class trial isn't for is solved, and you vote for that culprit, you fail, this class trial -isn't- for that person in particular.

 **Reiko Ono** : How in the holy fuck does that make sense!? You're breaking your own rules! Do you mean we can have one murderer who just has to sit around and NOT get punished? That's horseshit!

 **Monokuma** : It's not like I ASKED for two people to die back to back! This whole thing is a scheduling issue, find a ladder so you can climb off my back!

 **Monokuma Cont'd** : But fine, I guess I'll give you a hint to which class trial you should vote on. This class trial is for the student that died first. That's all your getting out of me, okay!?

 **Reiko Ono** : Fuckin' wiseass.

 **Yukata Watanabe** : Wait, two people died? Who were they? Why did no one tell me this!?

 **Shiro Kiruma** : It appears you haven't been checking your Monopad, Watanabe. We're in the class trial room and I've been reading everything that's been happening.

 **Shiro Kiruma Cont'd** : Our two victims are Akami Sakiko, and Miho Ishii, the Monokuma file lists Sakiko's death first, and that his death was at 8:15 AM. According to my clock, it is currently 11 AM, so seeing that Sakiko's Monokuma file is #3, and Ishii's is #4, I would assume that Sakiko died first, and should be the one we investigate.

 **Airi Kudo** : I feel like we shouldn't discard one of the cases, maybe if we solve both, then we'll know the actual order of the murders, and which one to vote for.

 **Shiro Kiruma** : I suppose that would be fine, despite it taking much more time for us to solve both cases. I'm still going to assume that this will be Sakiko's case.

 **Kenji Taisei** : So… Are you guys feeling okay? You were all acting so weird when you got sick, but you all seem fine now.

 **Hana Okamoto** : I'm feeling alright, apart from my head feeling a bit woozy.

 **Yukata Watanabe** : Everything's a bit of a fog, I don't remember anything since the Luau.

 **Shiro Kiruma** : Monokuma's cure worked, then. As we figured before I became afflicted, the disease takes away any memories of the events during the duration of it. When Kenji was afflicted with the disease, witnesses had seen him performing… unsavory acts with peaches.

 **Kenji Taisei** : I just ate them, Shiro! Don't make it sound nasty!

 **Shiro Kiruma** : You ate them off the floor, like a goddamn savage.

 **Kenji Taisei** : It wasn't my fault! Aren't we trying to discuss the murder?

 **Monokuma** : Let's start with an easy one. What was the murder weapon used on Akami?

 **Airi Kudo** : Of course he chooses that one…

 _Debate Begins_

 **Airi Kudo** : I'm fairly sure there were multiple murder weapons.

 **Yukata Watanabe** : How do you use multiple murder weapons on someone?

 **Yukata Watanabe Cont'd** : Did the culprit kill him twice or something?

 **Setsuki Yori** : Well, Reiko's bat technically counts as bludgeoning and stabbing…

 **Reiko Ono** : I thought we were doing with accusing me of shit! I got framed the last time!

 **Hana Okamoto** : Oh, maybe we can ask Akira, since she was there n' stuff!

 **Akira Kazue** : Miho… Why?

 **Hana Okamoto** : Uhhh… Nevermind, I guess.

 **Shiro Kiruma** : Do none of you read the Monokuma file!? His cause of death was literally written in it. He bled to death.

 **Kenji Taisei: I agree with Shiro!**

 _Debate Stops_

 **Yukata Watanabe** : ...Okay, the world is ending. I'm sure of it.

 **Shiro Kiruma** : Do not be surprised, Watanabe. Kenji has been a lot more agreeable these past few days. He may be just common folk, but he has a good head on his shoulders. He could maybe run for mayor one day.

 **Kenji Taisei** : Uhhh… Thanks? I admit I don't really want to become a mayor.

 **Setsuki Yori** : What are you agreeing with again, Kenji?

 **Kenji Taisei** : The Monokuma file, really. It lists one of the things on his cause of death, was that his wrists were slit. And thanks to Airi and I's investigation of the area, the closest weapon to fit that kind of wound would be a scalpel I found underneath Yukata's bed.

 **Airi Kudo** : And I suspect that was not the killing blow, because there was another step in this murder. His body was hung out of the window, tied to a blanket that was jammed into the window's latch.

 **Airi Kudo Cont'd** : His body bled dry while he was in the window, and that was when the other students found him.

 **Kenji Taisei:** By the way, wasn't Setsuki the first person to spot the body? Do you think that she might have seen who hung him from the window?  
 **  
Setsuki Yori:** Uhh… No, not really. When I saw Akami hanging from the window, I screamed. But… It happened already. So I guess I showed up a few minutes after 8:15, maybe closer to like 8:25.

 **Kenji Taisei:** Well, it was worth trying...

 **Yukiji Chimon** : But why hang him if his wrists were already cut?

 **Airi Kudo** : My guess? It was so he couldn't get help. Even if you slice both your wrists, you'll still take a minute or two before you become anemic. Akami could have either covered his wounds, or found Haru or Akira to help him.

 **Yukiji Chimon** : That's terrible…

 **Airi Kudo** : Akami wasn't the strongest person, but I imagine even him in a state of panic would attempt to escape from his aggressor.

 **Setsuki Yori** : But… He didn't. He didn't escape from him, did he?

 **Airi Kudo:** What do you mean?

 **Setsuki Yori** : I wasn't part of the investigation but… It doesn't make sense Akami wouldn't fight if his wrists were slit. He had time, he should have done something. But he didn't. Why not?

 _Debate Start_

 **Setsuki Yori** : Why didn't Akami fight back against his attacker?

 **Reiko Ono** : Maybe he got cuffed like Bam did.

 **Haru Yamada** : Akira strapped him to the bed, someone would have have to pull him out to attack him. That's enough time to do something.

 **Yukiji Chimon** : So he was strapped in the bed?

 **Setsuki Yori** : So then he would have been forced out of his bed! Doesn't that mean he struggled with the killer?

 **Kiko: Arf! Arf!**

 _Debate Stops_

 **Haru Yamada** : No, he really couldn't fight it. His Despair Disease strain made him gullible. Akira n' me had to tie him to the bed to stop him from doing everything people say.

 **Haru Yamada Cont'd** : The killer could have told him to 'not struggle' and Akami would do it. Wow, that sounds really bad when I say it like that.

 **Setsuki Yori:** So, I guess there wouldn't need to be a fight, if Akami was willing to help someone kill him.

 **Kenji Taisei** : So, I guess we agree on the killer being able to easily manipulate Akami into removing his straps.

 **Shiro Kiruma** : And I believe because of his gullibility, he could have been convinced to murder himself as well.

 **Yukiji Chimon** : Akami… murdered himself? Like a suicide?

 **Shiro Kiruma** : I'm not saying that was what happened, but it's a possibility that the culprit could have ordered Sakiko to do all the dirty work, pretty much meaning the culprit didn't have to do anything.

 **Kenji Taisei** : I… I didn't know that could happen.

 **Shiro Kiruma** : Were there any other symptoms each student had, barring Sakiko? I believe we all don't remember the exact symptoms we had.

 **Haru Yamada** : Hana was constantly freaking out and Yukata was always telling ridiculous lies.

 **Shiro Kiruma** : Freaking out?

 **Haru Yamada** : Yeah! She kept running away from me. I had to chase her around for at least a damn hour. Even when she's sick, she's still a star athlete. I can't compete with that.

 **Shiro Kiruma** : So akin to cowardice. That probably rules Okamoto out from being a culprit for the murder. What did I have?

 **Haru Yamada** : I dunno if I can think of the word off of the top of my head, Shiro. You were very docile. Like your pinpoint personality was replaced with Yukiji's, or something. 

**Shiro Kiruma** : So, meekness essentially. I'm not entirely sure, but I don't think me having Chimon's temperament would mean I would be beholden to try and murder Sakiko. For now, we can discard that.

 **Shiro Kiruma Cont'd** : That leaves us with a possibility, and one I doubt we would want to consider, but it is likely that Watanabe's constant lies could have killed Sakiko.

 **Yukata Watanabe** : Wait, I did what?!

 **Airi Kudo** : You were in the same room as Akami, now that I think of it.

 **Yukata Watanabe** : But what does that mea-

 **Shiro Kiruma** : And that would mean Okamoto and I were situated in the room opposite of you two, meaning that you two would be alone, and you could have told Sakiko to commit suicide.

 **Yukata Watanabe** : And how would you know that's an option! How!? I couldn't have… I like Akami. I wouldn't want him to die!

 **Shiro Kiruma** : Wouldn't it be a possibility that a lie for you would be that you -didn't- like Sakiko? That's a lie for you, so it's a feasible conclusion, despite it not being the exact one. You like Sakiko, you lie that you hate him, and he kills himself.

 **Shiro Kiruma Cont'd** : Please tell me, Watanabe. Why couldn't that have been a possibility?

 _Debate Begins_

 **Yukata Watanabe** : W-wh… Wha… How am I supposed to argue against that?

 **Yukata Watanabe Cont'd** : I can't even tell if I killed him or not, I don't remember! How is it a murder if I don't remember!

 **Yukata Watanabe Cont'd** : I… I don't want to kill him! How could I have killed him!? There has to be some proof I didn't!

 **Shiro Kiruma** : Because there wasn't anyone else at the time who could have done it. Every other student was out of commision, and you were the main person in the room with Sakiko.

 **Yukata Watanabe** : What about Akira? She could have been one of the people to order Akami's suicide!

 **Akira Kazue** : …

 **Shiro Kiruma** : You could have ordered Sakiko's suicide. Face it, as long as you could use your mouth, you didn't even have to get out of your bed!

 **Kenji Taisei: No, That's wrong!**

 **Kenji Taisei Cont'd** : We found Yukata with tape over his mouth. Did he order Akami to put tape over his mouth, too? No, because everything he said would have been a lie.

 **Shiro Kiruma** : I thought it could be a possibility.

 **Kenji Taisei** : No, he wouldn't be able to willingly order Akami's suicide on a lie, while simultaneously ordering the truthful statement of taping his mouth shut.

 **Setsuki Yori** : If Yukata was stuck lying, he would have to think and say "I like Akami and don't want him to die, and I dislike duct tape, especially when Akami puts it on my face!" in that order! I'm not sure that line of thinking makes much sense…

 **Haru Yamada** : And last I checked, he'd talk about how he was birthed from a toilet.

 **Yukata Watanabe** : I was birthed from WHAT?!

 **Haru Yamada** : You claimed you were birthed from the ancient Mayan God of Toilets, and you were going to bring your people to the promised land by dunking your head in the toilet.

 **Yukata Watanabe** : ...Please tell me he's pulling my leg.

 **Haru Yamada** : Hey, not my fault you're a poop goblin.

 **Yukata Watanabe** : I'M NOT A POOP GOBLIN!

 **Yukiji Chimon** : ...Do the Mayans even have a Toilet God? I thought they didn't invent toilets yet.

 **Monokuma** : Monokuma's Lesson: The toilet was invented in 1596! It was an English inventor named John Haringt-

 **Yukata Watanabe** : WHO THE HELL CARES!? THIS IS NOT TOILET TRIAL. STOP TALKING ABOUT TOILETS YOU GODDAMN FREAKS!

 **Monokuma** : All these flavors and you choose to be salty, Yukata?

 **Yukata Watanabe** : I AM NOT TALKING TO YOU ANYMORE!

 **Reiko Ono** : This is fucking stupid.

 **Shiro Kiruma** : For once, Ono and I are on the same page. Getting back to the matter at hand, it seems Watanabe's condition under Despair Disease would make it difficult for him to commit murder. He couldn't do two consistent orders, if they were all lies.

 **Kenji Taisei** : Putting us at square one as far as suspects go.

 **Shiro Kiruma** : Well, not quite. There is another potential suspect we haven't considered. But I would like to ask a few questions before I begin.

 **Haru Yamada** : What would that be?

 **Shiro Kiruma** : Do you recall what you were doing around the time of the murder, Yamada? Let's hear it.

 **Haru Yamada** : Uhh… Well, I tied up Hana, and Akami, I asked you to go to bed, and then went to sleep. Akira woke me up after I slept, she seemed tired, so I decided to take things into my own hands and make everyone breakfast.

 **Haru Yamada Cont'd** : I was making scrambled eggs, if I remember right. It's pretty easy to make and since I always seem to screw up my food, I thought something easy would be nice. I heard Setsuki scream, and ran out to see her looking at Akami's body.

 **Shiro Kiruma** : And could Yori confirm that you were in the kitchen the entire time?

 **Setsuki Yori** : Uhm.. I saw Haru when he ran outside, I don't know what he was doing before that. So I can't confirm it, I guess…

 **Shiro Kiruma** : I see... Kazue, can you confirm what Yamada explained?

 _Akira was looking down at her podium, unresponsive._

 **Shiro Kiruma** : I guess not. It would appear there is a large gap in Yamada's alibi that may lead to him being a suspect.

 **Kenji Taisei** : Are you sure about that? Akira didn't say anything, you might be assuming things.

 **Shiro Kiruma** : She may be unresponsive, but if I said anything wrong, you think she would go after the assumption, yes? If not, I assume she has no protests.

 **Haru Yamada** : Hey, that ain't fair. There were tons of people looking at me. All the people in the hospital!

 **Shiro Kiruma** : Yet you forgot that all the students who had Despair Disease are completely unable to recall any of the events? Despite there being four other people in the building, you had no witnesses. All we have is your word, and I feel like you've provided an insufficient explanation. 

**Haru Yamada** : C'mon, don't treat me like that. You know me, I wouldn't go out of my way to do crazy stuff. Right, Kenji?

 **Kenji Taisei** : I… I'm not sure, Haru. I've tried to trust people two times in these class trials, but I've been wrong on both. I want to believe you, man… But I don't know.

 **Haru Yamada** : Hey, if it wasn't me, maybe Akami really did kill himself! I couldn't have done it.

 **Yukata Watanabe** : Do we have to explain why I couldn't do it again!?

 **Haru Yamada** : No no no.. I don't mean it like that, and I'm not accusing you. But… I know I didn't do it. And you didn't do it… So who did it? The only person left would have to be him, wouldn't it? It's a bad thought but… That might be true.

 _Debate Starts._

 **Haru Yamada** : Akami might have been getting fed up with the whole situation, and wanted a way out that didn't hurt anyone.

 **Haru Yamada Cont'd** : So… Maybe he took his own life. It's shitty, but it's all I can think of.

 **Shiro Kiruma** : Do you have a basis for that statement?

 **Haru Yamada** : No… But I wasn't super familiar with Akami. But if I was in a killing game, and put into a position where I was entirely helpless, I would want a way out too.

 **Shiro Kiruma** : Explain.

 **Haru Yamada** : Well… Let's say Akami wanted to take his own life, in a way that didn't hurt anyone.

 **Setsuki Yori** : You keep saying that, but what do you mean?

 **Haru Yamada** : Well, if this was all that happened, it would be an easy way to quit the killing game, but not feel guilty and punish everyone else by giving them a hard case.

 **Haru Yamada Cont'd** : He could have removed his binds, sliced both his wrists, and took the blanket he had to hang himself out the window before he bled out! That would explain everything!

 **Kenji Taisei: No, that's wrong!**

 **Kenji Taisei Cont'd** : That wouldn't explain another piece of evidence I spotted during Airi and I's investigation. There was a Swiss army knife forcing the window against the blanket and keeping it from falling from the window. To do that, the window would need to be open, then shut… and then barred with the knife.

 **Haru Yamada:** I don't see the problem, sorry man.

 **Kenji Taisei:** The problem is, he would have to be inside to block the window, and the window would have to be closed for him to do it. But to climb through the window, it would have to be open so he can go through it. If he jumped out the window without closing it, he would have just fell.

 **Airi Kudo:** And if he comprised of a way, the blanket itself would have been covered in his bloody handprints. The only blood on it, is residual from his other minor wounds, otherwise, it was clean.

 **Haru Yamada:** Uhh…

 **Kenji Taisei:** I think that would prove that Akami didn't do it himself, and would need someone else to suspend him from the window. Sorry, Haru.

 **Shiro Kiruma** : And would further my statement that Haru is the only one physically capable of suspending Sakiko from the window, there are literally no other suspects for that period of time.

 **Shiro Kiruma** : We have the time, 8:15. We have the location, we have the murder weapon, and we have everyone else's alibi's in check.

 **Haru Yamada** : Wait just a minute! I'm not going to let you pull me around by my nose on this. You're clearly just makin' stuff up about me, now!

 _Debate Starts_

 **Haru Yamada** : Did you see how much blood Akami lost? He was paler than a ghost!

 **Haru Yamada Cont'd** : If Akami got his wrist sliced as deep as they did, and I started to manhandle his dying body, wouldn't I have any blood on me?  
 **  
Kenji Taisei: No, that's wrong...**

 **Kenji Taisei** : Airi and I were investigating the room and found two pieces of evidence placed in the hazardous waste bin. One was a pair of surgical gloves, and the other.. Was Akami's hospital gown.

 **Airi Kudo** : When we found Akami's body, he didn't have his hospital gown on, instead he had his regular clothes.

 **Haru Yamada** : R-really? Are you sure that Akami wasn't able to do it himself?

 **Shiro Kiruma** : Why do you insist on that? You've been proven wrong, Yamada. Just give it up, you're our most likely suspect for this case.

 **Haru Yamada** : C'mon… There has to be some proof of this! Didn't Akami have blood on the soles of his shoes!?

 **Airi Kudo** : While he did have blood on his shoes, there wasn't a single bloody footprint in the hospital room Akami died in. In fact, we have proof that Akami was dragged, rather than walked, or carried.

 **Kenji Taisei** : Yeah… We do.

 **Airi Kudo** : I guess I'll explain this one. In blood stain analysis, there are different kinds of blood stains for different kinds of injuries. A more misty bloodstain is a projectile wound, a splatter would be a strike wound, and a slice would make a standing pool of blood.

 **Airi Kudo Cont'd** : The major bloodstain in the room had to do with where Akami's wrists were slit, halfway between his bed, and his window. His movements were barely noticeable, as the pool was entirely in one spot.

 **Haru Yamada** : D-does that prove anything, though!?

 _Debate Starts._

 **Haru Yamada** : Maybe Akami jumped from the window, I think I can prove it!

 **Kenji Taisei: You're wrong…**

 _Debate Ends_ ****

 **Haru Yamada** : W-wha?

 **Kenji Taisei** : There was a clear swipe pattern in the blood pool, so his body was lifted and slid over to the window…

 **Setsuki Yori** : I don't know about you guys, but Haru seems to be acting super guilty now…

 **Yukiji Chimon** : Haru… Did you really do it?

 _Haru seems to be in tears, trying not to choke back as he spoke._

 **Haru Yamada** : What do you want from me?! What do you want me to say!? I don't understand…

 **Shiro Kiruma** : Admit your guilt, Yamada! Maybe we'll forgive you before you get punished.

 **Haru Yamada** : This isn't fair! I didn't do anything! Kenji, please… believe me!

 **Kenji Taisei** : …

 **Haru Yamada** : I don't know what happened, okay? I seriously don't. Kenji, please… You have to help me!

 **Kenji Taisei** : …

 **Haru Yamada** : I know I didn't do it, because if I did, I would have lied by now! There has to be some way I can help you prove it isn't me! Please, Kenji!

 **Kenji Taisei** : I don't know, okay!? I want to believe you didn't do it! But… Everything I've said… everything Airi said… Even Shiro's observations have been airtight. What do you want me to do? Everything I have points to you doing it!

 **Haru Yamada** : Kenji! Please! I don't want all of us to die! I didn't do it! Please… L-listen to me…

 **Kenji Taisei** : I… I don't know what to do. God damn it…

 **Shiro Kiruma** : Don't listen to Yamada, Kenji. We have him right where we want him, he's our prime suspect!

 **Kenji Taisei** : Am.. am I doing the right thing?

 **Shiro Kiruma** : We have the murder weapon, we have how he died, and we have the only person who was capable of doing it right here! We don't need any more discussing, Kenji. Don't back down, we need to settle this!

 **Kenji Taisei** : I…  
 _  
Kenji took a step away from the podium, he seemed much more sullen than before as he slowly became unresponsive to Shiro's anger._

 **Haru Yamada:** Kenji… You solved at least two cases harder than this! I believe in you. Don't give up, man. There has to be something you can do!

 **Shiro Kiruma:** It's too late to appeal to emotion, Yamada. Kenji's wisened up to that, we have all the proof we need.

 **Kenji Taisei:** Haru… I'm trying really hard, but I just don't know what I should do. I want to believe you! But… Everything Shiro said makes sense.

 **Kenji Taisei Cont'd:** Every argument he's used… I have evidence to back it up. I don't have any other ideas.

 **Haru Yamada** : But… I didn't do it! How is it possible that I'm a fitting match for all the evidence, if I didn't do it…?

 **Shiro Kiruma** : That means you did it, obviously.

 **Haru Yamada** : I swear, I didn't do anything!

 __ **Airi Kudo** : I don't think we actually have all the evidence covered.

 **Shiro Kiruma** : What?

 **Kenji Taisei** : Huh…?

 **Airi Kudo** : I feel like there's something we've forgot.

 **Shiro Kiruma** : What else is there!? We have everything about Sakiko's case, do we not?

 **Airi Kudo** : We're missing something about Akami's death.

 **Airi Kudo Cont'd** : Not a single one of us have brought up a single instance of the wounds he had on his neck.

 **Akira Kazue** : Wounds… on his neck?

 **Airi Kudo** : Akami had scratch marks on his neck, and on the Monokuma file, it said the area around his neck and throat was swollen.

 **Shiro Kiruma** : I don't really see how that's related to him bleeding to death.

 **Airi Kudo** : It implies something else happened to him, that was either forgotten by you, or something you didn't realize in the first place. Do you know what happened to his neck, Shiro?

 **Shiro Kiruma** : Well… Most people who are hanged suffer a broken neck. The swelling would be similar to a situation like that.

 **Airi Kudo** : But if he died from a broken neck, it would have been listed in the Monokuma file. Wouldn't it? Miho's file states her neck was broken.

 **Kenji Taisei** : To be honest, I'm not sure what the swelling around his neck is. My only guess would be it's from the hanging.

 **Airi Kudo** : What I'm trying to say is… There may have been another murder weapon. One that was disposed of.

 **Shiro Kiruma** : That's a rather bold assumption. What kind of murder weapon would match that?

 **Airi Kudo** : I don't know, but something must have caused what happened to his neck.

 _Debate Starts_

 **Airi Kudo** : There was some kind of alternate murder weapon that injured his neck.

 **Shiro Kiruma** : We're getting way off topic, Kudo. Yamada doesn't have an alibi!

 **Airi Kudo** : I know he doesn't have an alibi. That's not the point.

 **Airi Kudo Cont'd** : You can't make assumptions about how the murder happened, we've read the Monokuma file. You can't ignore the injury on his neck.

 **Haru Yamada** : What happened to his neck?

 **Setsuki Yori** : I think he had a bunch of scratches on it…

 **Airi Kudo** : What kind of weapon would leave scratches on his neck? That's the question we have to ask.

 **Kenji Taisei** : I remember there was blood on his fingernails. It could have been a strangulation.

 **Akira Kazue: No.**

 _Debate Ends_

 **Kenji Taisei** : ...Did Akira just say something?

 **Akira Kazue** : ...I just… I can't continue this class trial, I feel like something's bothering me.

 **Setsuki Yori** : I know Miho died, but don't we have to finish this class trial first?

 **Akira Kazue** : No, that's not it. I just… I've been distracted, I realized I never got a chance to investigate the hospital myself.

 **Kenji Taisei** : I investigated the hospital, Akira. I got everything I could out of it!

 **Akira Kazue** : But… Did you ever consider that maybe something happened to Akami before he was out of bed?

 **Kenji Taisei** : Wha..?

 **Akira Kazue** : You and Shiro… You've been assuming that Akami was taken from bed, and killed. But what if Akami died in bed, and then was manhandled?

 **Shiro Kiruma** : This sounds like nonsense. Kazue, you're clearly in a state of distress. I don't think we can take any of your statements seriously.

 **Akira Kazue** : I have to look. I have to go back to the hospital so I can see for myself!

 **Monokuma** : Uhhhhh… Aren't we in a class trial? Pretty sure it's too late to do that!

 **Akira Kazue** : Monokuma… You know we don't have the murder weapon as evidence. Nobody brought it up. Is it really a fair trial without all the evidence?

 **Monokuma** : Hmmm… True. But do you reeeaaaaaallly think there might be something Kenji forgot? Are you sure? You're not gonna run outta here, are you?

 **Akira Kazue** : What makes you think that?

 **Monokuma** : I 'unno. It's not like you can leave anyway, there's barriers and stuff.

 **Akira Kazue** : Then why did you think I'm going to leave?

 **Monokuma** : Because we're all in the class trial! I don't just let people leave. If you need to pee, you gotta hold it in! These things take at least an hour, you shoulda peed before hand!

 **Akira Kazue** : I said I think I know where else to find evidence! This has nothing to do with the bathroom you weirdo.

 **Haru Yamada** : Oh, she's back to normal. Weird.

 **Akira Kazue** : Look, unlike Kenji and Airi, I was there at the hospital. I'll know what to look for, I'll know what's wrong.

 **Shiro Kiruma** : Are you sure about this, Kazue? You haven't been in the right frame of mind since the discovery of Sakiko's body.

 **Akira Kazue** : I'll bring a few people with me, so they can confirm I'm not bringing in any imaginary evidence.

 **Monokuma** : Fair! But if you don't hurry up I'll punish you. So you have like.. 15 minutes tops. Get your two investi-buddies and hurry! Aller Vite! Hustle! Didi Mau!

 **Akira Kazue** : Yukiji, Setsuki. You guys are coming with me! We're gonna find that murder weapon!

 **Monokuma** : This Class Trial has been called to a 15 minute recess! Go eat a sandwich or something, and we'll be right back!

 **Class Trial Recess!**

The three students returned to the hospital, Akira thinking of where to go in such a limited timeframe. "We're going to have to split up, cover as much ground as we can." Akira stated as the two of her companions both nodded.

"Uhm.. Is there anything I should look for?" Yukiji asked, scratching his fingers through his hair.

"Anything worth bringing up. You don't need to check the room of the murder, Kenji has that covered. We're looking for stuff like poison, maybe thrown away weapons, that kind of thing." Akira replied, getting a friendly salute from Setsuki as she charged off to the second floor.

"And what about you?" Yukiji asked, Akira tapping her chin in deep thought.

"I need to settle something in the back of my mind. Maybe even retrace my steps from this morning." She replied, cracking some of her knuckles while she spoke.

"Righty." Yukiji said, looking around for a second before giving an awkward chuckle. "I guess I'll follow you, then." He added. Akira nodded, slowly walking down the hall and into the kitchen. Akira ran to the fridge, popping it open and bending forward to put her head into it.

There were the standard staples of a fridge. "OJ, purple stuff, soda…" Akira muttered, pushing aside drinks. She soon grabbed the mayonnaise jar, wrapped cold cuts and sliced cheese. She twisted open the jar and set it on the table.

"Y'know I didn't think Monokuma actually meant we're going to go eat sandwiches for the class trial recess…" Yukiji said, craning his neck to look over her shoulder. Akira took a fingertip of mayonnaise and tasted it. It tasted fine, a little bland.. But not something murderous.

"I made everyone sandwiches when I was about to wake up Haru… I want to see if I can find something that could kill Akami in here. Be it arsenic, thumb tacks, or just something he could have choked on." Akira said, getting into the oh so difficult process of inspecting ham.

"...Is it the Ham? Is it a murder ham?" Yukiji asked, Akira shaking her head.

"No, that'd be silly." Akira said, hastily walking over to the cabinets and opening each one. Finding the wheat bread, some other condiments, and a strangely familiar jar. She grabbed the jar, and began to inspect it.

Setsuki returned to the room, rubbing the back of her head. "Sooo… I couldn't find anything interesting. It's just all boring hospital stuff." she said, Akira looking at the jar's label.

"Shrimp paste?" Yukiji read the label while peeking over her shoulder. Akira felt a chill as she grabbed the top of the jar, twisting it open. The top was nearly pristine, but there was a liberal chunk scooped out of it, with the familiar outline of a butter knife against the surface of the disgusting pink goop.

"It smells like my mom's house." Setsuki complained, plugging her nose with her fingers as she took a step back. "She always had fish cooking, and it was always nasty, bottom feeding fish."

"Who could have…" Akira said, walking over to the sink, placing the jar down and pulling the handle to the dishwasher. Opening it and pulling out the rack to see two kitchen knives side to side with each other, sparkling clean. A warm mist of steam coming from the machine and hitting her in the face.

"Two knives? Someone turned on the dishwasher for two knives? That's so lazy…" Setsuki complained, as Akira grabbed both of them to inspect them.

"Damn it, they're both clean… But the fact there's two of them bothers me." Akira said, looking over both knives. "I think I just figured out my culprit. But… How could they.." Akira muttered to herself as she slowly left the kitchen, closing the jar of shrimp paste and carrying it with her over to the hallway.

Akira walked up the stairs, stopping to see that the the first thing on her right from the stairs was Akami and Yukata's room. She nodded and kept walking, Yukiji and Setsuki following after her. "So, who do you think did it?" Yukiji asked.

"I have a theory, but I don't wanna say until I'm sure of this…" Akira answered, heading for the on-call room. She walked straight through the on-call room, opening the door on the other side and stepping out into the opposite hall. She made her last stop at Shiro and Hana's room, opening the door and stepping into the room-

 _Ding dong, dong ding_

"Attention, Enoshima University Detective Club! There better be a good reason you're taking so long! When I said 15 minutes, I meant 15 minutes! Enough time to take a shower, not enough time to have 3 fights on Namek. Get over here!" The Monokuma on the monitor shouted, holding a plastic bottle of purple stuff in his other hand.

"Guess that's our cue. You think you got the culprit, Akira?" Setsuki asked as they headed back for the on-call room.

"I think I do. Or, at least I have enough to know who could have done it." Akira replied, going through the on-call room and heading for the stairs on the long trip back to the trial room.

 **CLASS TRIAL RESUME**

 **Monokuma** : Well then, guess who's 54 seconds late!

 **Akira Kazue** : Look, that isn't my fault. Your dramatic elevator is really slow.

 **Setsuki Yori** : And you don't have any muzak! What's an elevator without muzak?! Whatzupwitdat?

 **Monokuma** : C'mon ladies. I have all sorts of moments thanks to that dramatic elevator, it's not like I can get rid of it. It's a staple!

 **Kenji Taisei** : So, did you find the murder weapon?

 **Akira Kazue** : Sure did… And it's right here.

 _(Akira pulls out the jar of shrimp paste she acquired earlier.)_

 **Haru Yamada** : ...What's that?

 **Akira Kazue** : It's shrimp paste.

 **Shiro Kiruma** : You… you brought shrimp paste to the class trial?

 **Akira Kazue** : I did.

 **Shiro Kiruma** : ...Why!? Why shrimp paste!?

 **Akira Kazue** : Because it's the murder weapon! I told you guys, I found it!

 **Yukata Watanabe** : Akira's broken, guys. What do we do?

 **Akira Kazue** : Shhh. I can explain. This morning, just before I was supposed to sleep and trade shifts with Haru. I decided to make everyone food, but a strange thing happened to me that made me have to wait before I gave everyone their food.

 **Akira Kazue Cont'd** : Somehow, Hana came loose from the ties I made to keep her from running from her bed. She ran downstairs, and broke some glassware, forcing me to clean it up. When I came back, I delivered everyone their sandwiches, and went to bed.

 **Akira Kazue Cont'd** : I think someone may have slipped some shrimp paste into the sandwiches, while I was distracted with Hana.

 **Shiro Kiruma** : And… Why should anyone care?

 **Akira Kazue** : You should care, Shiro… If someone spiked sandwiches with shrimp paste, and it killed Akami… What would that mean?

 **Setsuki Yori** : Oh! Oh! Lemme think. Don't tell me.

 **Shiro Kiruma** : Not this again. Do you want to 'brain surf' again, Yori?

 **Setsuki Yori** : It's my gimmick, shut up.  
 _  
(Setsuki pushed both index fingers on the side of her head, her tongue going to one side as she got lost in thought.)_

 **Yukata Watanabe** : Does anyone notice she does this like an hour into every trial?

 **Yukiji Chimon** : Actually, I think she's a couple minutes off this time...

 **Akira Kazue** : We had to pause for a minute, I'm sure it's not an omen or anything.

 **Setsuki Yori** : OOOOOOOOOH!

 **Setsuki Yori Cont'd** : I got nothin'.

 **Akira Kazue** : Seriously!?

 **Kenji Taisei** : Then what was the point of that?!

 **Setsuki Yori** : Uhm… Third time's a charm? I thought it would work, okay!?

 **Yukata Watanabe** : But it worked the last two times! That metaphor doesn't work unless you wanted to fail twice!

 **Shiro Kiruma** : I'm with a bunch of goddamned children…

 **Setsuki Yori** : Explain stuff, Akira. You're good at it!

 **Akira Kazue** : _Sighs_ Right… It killed Akami… because Akami was the only one of the students with a severe allergy.

 **Yukata Watanabe** : I'm allergic to penicillin, if that counts.

 **Setsuki Yori** : Don't tell people that, someone might murder you with Pene… pen… pen… Moldy bread!

 **Akira Kazue** : Penicillin. And Akami was suffering from a shellfish allergy. This shrimp paste is absolute poison to him, if someone even slipped a small amount into his food, he could die.

 **Setsuki Yori** : Not if he had ep… epein… epep… Adrenaline stuff!

 **Airi Kudo** : Epinephrine. We might have had some, if someone knew Akami was suffering from an allergic reaction.

 **Setsuki Yori** : Pronouncing medicines is hard, okay?! Step off…

 **Reiko Ono** : No one gives a shit, Setsuki! We're discussing how somebody killed Akami with a fuckin' sandwich.

 **Reiko Ono Cont'd** : I dunno about you guys, but this sounds like a buncha horseshit.

 **Yukata Watanabe: This is the enemy's trap!  
**

 **Yukata Watanabe** : Wait a minute. They killed Akami with a fucking sandwich!? Are you… absolutely serious? Akami died... Because someone gave him a poisoned fucking sandwich.

 **Akira Kazue** : Yes, I'm absolutely sure.

 **Yukata Watanabe** : Do you even hear yourself right now!? You sound like an idiot!

 _(The podiums shifted backward, so Yukata and Akira were facing each other, and the other students in the background.)_

 **Monokuma** : Oh! Oh! Verbal Showdown! Yes! We haven't done one of these yet!

 **Kenji Taisei** : Uh… What?

 **Monokuma** : It's like a Full-Scale Debate, but with two people. Yukata and Akira will have to face off with words, and everyone else will vote on who has a more convincing argument. First person to run out of influence loses!

 **Kenji Taisei** : Does that mean one of them will die?

 **Monokuma** : No, only the Blackened dies, stupid! Unless you pick wrong, of course!

 _(The lights in the room shut off, leaving two spotlights on Akira and Yukata, a blue and a red bar appearing on the screen representing the votes of each side.)  
_  
 **Akira Kazue** : Fine, tell me what your problem is.

 **Yukata Watanabe** : First of all. To even insinuate that the killer decided to use a sandwich is a complete sham.

 **Yukata Watanabe** Cont'd: How would you know where to even look in the hospital for shrimp paste!?

 **Akira Kazue** : I was looking for a way to tell you to shut up, so I went to the Monomono Medi-Chine. One of the random objects inside of it was the shrimp paste.

 **Akira Kazue Cont'd** : I thought I discarded it, someone could have taken it and used it to poison Akami!

 **Yukata Watanabe** : And now you want me to take your word that you found it in the MonoMono Medi-Chine!?

 **Yukata Watanabe Cont'd** : How could you know if the Monomono Medi-Chine could have someone to shut me up? I don't believe you.

 **Akira Kazue** : I did find something to shut you up. Duct tape, in fact. But the other items I got came before it. You had the duct tape over your mouth until I took it off to feed you.

 **Akira Kazue Cont'd** : The other items I got were a swiss army knife, some vitamins, and the murder weapon. That's a pretty random arrangement of items.

 **Yukata Watanabe** : Couldn't it be imitation shrimp? How would you know if he was allergic to it? Someone could have poisoned him, and you took a recess to do what exactly? Find shrimp paste in the fridge!?

 **Yukata Watanabe Cont'd** : You could have gone to the lab in the building instead. There was plenty of things to poison people in there.

 **Akira Kazue** : I sent Setsuki to look over items on the second floor. If she noticed anything tampered with, she would have told me.

 **Yukata Watanabe** : But Setsuki's an idiot. She can't even read the names of most of the pills!

 **Akira Kazue** : I don't think Setsuki would like hearing that, but whatever…

 **Akira Kazue Cont'd** : That, and if you actually bothered to read the label on the shrimp paste… It's definitely real.

 **Yukata Watanabe** : Did you have his medical records!? How in the hell would you know shrimp paste could kill him, and not poison!?

 **Akira Kazue: Akami told me at the Luau!**

 _(Akira's blue bar flashed at roughly 75% of the votes, turning the podiums back to normal.)_

 **Yukata Watanabe** : He… told you?

 **Akira Kazue** : Yes, he told me about his allergy while we were at the appetizer platter together. 

**Akira Kazue Cont'd** : He's allergic to shellfish, so I helped make him a platter that he could eat. Airi can confirm that him and I spent nearly the whole luau together.

 **Airi Kudo** : I'm fairly confident in my photographic memory, so… yes, Akira and Akami spent most of the luau together, in fact.

 **Airi Kudo Cont'd** : And just to clarify, I can even tell you that Akami was drinking the green punch, Akira was drinking the blue punch, and Kenji drank the red punch.

 **Kenji Taisei** : ...Yeah, I was drinking red punch. Holy shit, Airi remembered that?

 **Akira Kazue** : I think that settles that… Akami could have been murdered by an allergic reaction to shrimp.

 **Yukata Watanabe** : I'll still say it's stupid…

 **Airi Kudo** : No matter how stupid something is, it's the truth.

 **Monokuma** : Like a swimsuit full of rocks, or a bunch of arrows duct taped together as murder weapons!

 **Monokuma Cont'd** : Wait, only one of those was true. Nevermind!

 **Akira Kazue** : I feel like he's just referencing stuff he knows we won't get.

 **Kenji Taisei** : Just ignore him. It's what I do.

 **Shiro Kiruma** : I highly doubt you do, but Kenji's right. We have more important things to discuss.

 **Akira Kazue** : The fact it's very private information proves one thing… Haru couldn't have possibly known about Akami's allergy. And I'm pretty sure he doesn't like shrimp paste on his sandwiches.

 **Akira Kazue Cont'd** : In fact, there are only two people who were in earshot of Akami and I's discussion, and it was the third person at the table. Airi, can you recall who that was, for the convenience of everyone else at the trial?

 **Airi Kudo** : You and Shiro were at the table the most, while you were talking to Akami. I didn't hear what you two were talking about, because I was too busy hearing Yukata complaining about limbo rules.

 **Yukata Watanabe** : My complaints about how low someone can go are valid, damn it.

 **Kenji Taisei** : You and… Shiro?

 **Akira Kazue** : Yeah… Shiro was at the snack table with me and Akami. He was talking about seeing people messing up at limbo was amusing him. He was in earshot of Akami talking about his allergies.

 **Monokuma** : Akami died one day after mentioning his fatal weakness, oh, Chekhov and his gun have come to visit! How I missed him so~

 **Kenji Taisei** : Shiro… is Akira right? Did you hear Akami talk about his allergy?

 **Shiro Kiruma** : I… I did. But there's one problem with Kazue's argument.

 **Shiro Kiruma Cont'd** : If you recall, I was ill with Despair Disease. And one of the symptoms was in fact memory loss. Even if I knew what Sakiko's allergy was, I wouldn't be able to act on it, that, and my personality changed to the point that I wasn't even able to commit a murder that complicated!

 **Akira Kazue** : …

 **Kenji Taisei** : Wouldn't that mean the only person with that valid information about Akami's allergy would be Akira and Akira alone?

 **Setsuki Yori** : Did Akira kill Akami!? No way! No friggin way, dude!

 **Akira Kazue** : That's dumb. Why would I bring up that evidence, if it would make me guilty? I'm bringing it up to exonerate Haru and put us back on the right track!

 **Shiro Kiruma** : Hmhm… It's a clever plan, Kazue. Trying to blame your Machiavellian plot on an innocent bystander, and hoping that your squeaky clean image would prove your innocence. You are a heartless woman…

 **Akira Kazue** : T-that's not what I'm doing! I'm trying to state a couple of facts!

 **Shiro Kiruma** : I knew you hated me from the start, Officer Kazue… But to frame me for murder? How preposterous.

 **Shiro Kiruma Cont'd** : You know my personality made me not a favorite with most of you, but that doesn't mean I would be willing to commit murder the very minute I had a chance.

 **Kenji Taisei** : Akira… You… You didn't…

 **Akira Kazue** : Kenji… Don't let him trick you. I… I know he did it.

 **Shiro Kiruma** : You _know_ I did it? How oddly definitive for someone using another's account of the luau and playing off the group's bias to come to a false conclusion. It sounds like you had this murder planned out nicely. Clever girl…

 **Akira Kazue** : What? No! You guys don't seriously believe this, do you?!

 **Reiko Ono** : Shut the fuck up, murderer! You're just trying to throw us off.

 **Akira Kazue** : There has to be a way to prove to you guys he's lying! There has to be some way to convince you that he knows… A way for him to remember what Akami told him!

 **Shiro Kiruma** : Face it, I couldn't have remembered a fact when amnesia is clearly one of the symptoms… I can't commit a murder if I don't remember how the murder works! You're the real liar, Kazue! Face it! You're finished...

 **Akira Kazue** : I wouldn't intentionally bring up a fact that would incriminate myself unless it helped me figure out who really did it!

 _(The podiums moved again, but Akira was now facing Shiro to face off in the center.)_

 **Monokuma** : Two in a row! Two in a row! Verbal Showdooooown!

 **Akira Kazue** : Shiro, I didn't murder Akami, there's no one that could but you!

 **Shiro Kiruma** : Only after you let me and Kenji eliminate any other suspects. You probably wanted that so it would make it easier to accuse me.

 **Shiro Kiruma Cont'd** : Withhold the vital clue with a mask of silent shock, allow others to clear alibis, and frame me despite the fact the only remaining suspect is the one we'd trust the most. I don't take kindly to fools, Kazue.

 **Akira Kazue** : I didn't withhold anything. And I only brought up the shrimp paste to clear Haru's name. Why would I leave to investigate something I didn't know, if I knew about it already?

 **Shiro Kiruma** : Kenji and Kudo could've missed a crucial detail and you wanted to eliminate it being found. Besides, your little fugue state over Ishii's death was adorable. How long did it take for you to think that up?

 **Akira Kazue** : This is getting off-topic, Shiro! You're just stalling out the trial to avoid getting caught!

 **Shiro Kiruma** : Again with this myth that I am the culprit. Need I remind you that I was one stricken with Despair Disease?

 **Akira Kazue** : There was a way you could remember everything you heard that night.

 **Shiro Kiruma** : Impossible, there isn't a single way that you can prove that I can remember anything that night!

 **Akira Kazue: You faked the Disease!**

 **Shiro Kiruma** : I'm sorry, come again? I feel you misspoke, Kazue.

 **Kenji Taisei** : Yeah, he faked the Despair Disease?

 **Akira Kazue** : Think about it. He was the only one who didn't initially catch the disease in the first place. His symptoms were different, and he was the only one who had his wits about him.

 **Shiro Kiruma** : I simply have a greater resistance to disease.

 **Airi Kudo** : But that doesn't match up with a fact I think all of us could agree on. Which color punch each one of us drank.

 **Akira Kazue** : Y-yeah. That's another thing. Airi stated that Akami drank specifically the green punch. And which one did you drink Yukata?

 **Yukata Watanabe** : Green, I think.

 **Airi Kudo** : He did. In fact, I had given Yukata his cup as a joke since it matched his hair.

 **Yukata Watanabe** : Wait, but if Akami and I drank the same punch… Hana, which one did you drink?

 **Hana Okamoto** : Oh! Green, I think. Airi, you remember everything, was it green?

 **Airi Kudo** : Indeed. Akami, Hana and Yukata all drank Green Growler.

 **Kenji Taisei** : Which means… Green Growler was the punch with Despair Disease. Monokuma, which punches did you spike?

 **Monokuma** : Issa secret.

 **Airi Kudo:** But since I drank the blue one… as did many others, and none of us got sick, besides Shiro.

 **Yukata Watanabe** : So that means you got me sick, Airi!

 **Airi Kudo** : Unintentionally, but if it's any consolation, I'm sorry I burned your house down.

 **Yukata Watanabe** : Ahh, it's alright, Airi! I know you didn't mean to- wait, you did what?!

 **Airi Kudo** : You'll figure it out later.

 **Akira Kazue** : And.. Monokuma never explained how Despair Disease is transferred. He kept it ambiguous, to make us more susceptible to misinformation.

 **Monokuma** : Eeyup!

 **Akira Kazue** : Which means… in order to preserve the fairness of the trial. Monokuma, how is the disease transferred between students?

 **Monokuma** : Aww, really? Do I have to? Fine. But it's only cuz I wanna move on to Miho's case soon.

 **Monokuma Cont'd** : The disease is ONLY transferable via fluid. Be it bodily fluid, or my spiked punch. So you would either have to drink the punch, or try and French kiss Yukata, the stuff of nightmares.

 **Yukata Watanabe** : Hey!

 **Akira Kazue** : So the only way Shiro could have gotten sick is if he traded fluids with someone, or drank the green punch.

 **Kenji Taisei** : But.. he coughed up blood. How do you fake coughing up blood?

 **Airi Kudo** : Many ways, he could have bit his tongue to time blood coming out of his mouth.

 **Haru Yamada** : Another thing was, a high running fever was a symptom of all the students who were sick, but Shiro didn't have one.

 **Akira Kazue** : You noticed that too, huh? Shiro never had a fever the entire time. Even more signs that he feigned his disease.

 **Shiro Kiruma** : This is all inconsequential evidence! This is all based on what you two can recall. How in the hell do you know if I didn't drink the green punch!

 **Akira Kazue** : There's one other very important thing that proves to me that you're guilty, Kiruma… The body discovery announcement.

 **Shiro Kiruma** : The body discovery announcement? What about it? What does that have to do with the punch?

 **Airi Kudo** : Do you recall the rules for body discovery?

 **Shiro Kiruma** : That… three innocent students are needed to set off the body discovery.

 **Airi Kudo** : Akira, do you remember how many people were present when Akami's body discovery announcement began?

 **Akira Kazue** : Uhm… First was Setsuki, then Haru. Shiro and I were next.

 **Shiro Kiruma** : And since Kazue is the culprit, I was the one to trigger the announcement.

 **Akira Kazue** : But… That's wrong.

 **Shiro Kiruma** : What do you mean 'that's wrong?'

 **Akira Kazue** : Do you remember what Monokuma said at the very beginning of the trial…? Students with Despair Disease are not listed as being able to discover the body.

 **Shiro Kiruma** : And what's important about that!?

 **Akira Kazue** : The body discovery announcement happened when the fourth person to witness the murder. Yukata didn't count, because if he saw Akami die, the announcement would have happened when Haru joined Setsuki.

 **Akira Kazue Cont'd** : And… If you were sick, Kenji arriving would have triggered the body discovery announcement, because I would have been the culprit.

 **Akira Kazue Cont'd** : If you were the culprit, the body discovery trigger would only activate if 3 people witnessed the body. Haru, Setsuki… and me.

 **Shiro Kiruma** : There's a simple flaw in your logic, Kazue. Even if I weren't sick with Despair Disease, then the three witnesses would be Yori, Yamada and myself. After all, you are the culprit, not me.

 **Akira Kazue** : But you feigned your illness. You wouldn't be a witness if you actually were sick. If I was the killer, Kenji would have been the third witness! Monokuma, does a culprit count as a witness?

 **Monokuma** : Nope! The culprit can't discover the body. Even if they lay eyes on it more than once! I mean, they kind of discovered the body in the first place, since they killed it n' all.

 **Shiro Kiruma** : Preposterous! Absolutely preposterous! You didn't even see me anywhere near Sakiko! I was in my room nearly the whole time until I woke you up!

 **Akira Kazue** : You could have followed a path to avoid me the whole time. You could have removed Hana from her restraints, then use the chaos she causes to sneak into the kitchen.

 **Shiro Kiruma** : That doesn't explain anything! Maybe Watanabe could still have killed him with a command!

 **Akira Kazue** : I was the first one to put tape on his mouth, you probably put it back on his mouth so Kenji could rip it off later!

 **Shiro Kiruma** : Goddamn it, listen to me!

 **Akira Kazue** : You could have taken the stairs to the second floor while I moved Hana up the elevator!

 **Shiro Kiruma** : KAZUE!

 **Akira Kazue** : You could have slipped through Akami's room on the way back, and passed through the on call room so I never saw you! When I made it back, you were out of your bed!

 **Shiro Kiruma** : You ignorant BITCH!

 **Akira Kazue** : ...

 **Haru Yamada** : I-I did hear someone open the door a few minutes before Akira woke me up… I just thought she wanted to check on me… But was that Shiro?

 **Shiro Kiruma** : Shut your goddamn mouth, you ignorant fucking pig…

 **Yukata Watanabe** : Holy shit, Shiro's pissed.

 **Yukiji Chimon** : That's why you went up the stairs when we rechecked the hospital, right Akira?

 **Akira Kazue** : Exactly. I had been wondering if there was an easy path Shiro could've taken.

 **Shiro Kiruma** : I'm going to say this once. ONCE. You have zero proof I ever went in that goddamn kitchen…

 **Akira Kazue** : Actually… In the dishwasher, there were two butter knives that were just finished being cleaned… I clearly used the first one, but before I was finished… Hana distracted me, I didn't even put the knives in the dishwasher. You could have used that second knife to tamper with the food.

 **Shiro Kiruma** : That's obviously because you made sandwiches last night, and then you made sandwiches this morning, you fool. Stop making excuses.

 **Akira Kazue** : ...How did you remember that?

 **Shiro Kiruma** : Remember _what,_ Kazue?

 **Akira Kazue** : The fact I even gave you sandwiches twice at all.

 **Shiro Kiruma** : You keep saying nonsense, what the hell do you mean!? Of course you served everyone sandwiches! Twice!

 **Akira Kazue** : But… You wouldn't remember me serving food the first time, specifically the fact the first time I also gave you sandwiches. The Despair Disease would mean you would have forgot.

 **Yukata Watanabe** : Yeah… I don't remember eating anything.

 **Hana Okamoto** : Me neither. I barely remember even having breakfast.

 **Kenji Taisei** : Did… you really kill Akami?

 **Shiro Kiruma** : Shut your mouth, you idiot…

 **Akira Kazue** : We're talking in circles… I think I cracked the case.

 **Hana Okamoto** : That means vote for Shiro, right? We've been here forever…

 **Monokuma** : Are you sure you wanna vote for Shiro? Don't you remember the other thing I said at the beginning of the trial? The murder that happened first is the case you have to vote for. Are you absolutely, positively sure Akami died first?

 **Airi Kudo** : Shiro did explain that Akami's Monokuma File had 3, and Miho's had 4…

 **Monokuma** : That explains the order of body discovery, but not the order of the murders. You will have to figure out if Akami's murder, or Miho's murder actually happened first.

 _Debate Starts:_

 **Monokuma** : Did Miho die first? Or did Akami? Oh what a conundrum~

 **Kenji Taisei** : Miho's Monokuma file stated that her time of death isn't listed…

 **Yukata Watanabe** : Oh we are so fucked…

 **Reiko Ono** : Can't we just vote Shiro? We spent at least an hour on this shit and he's the only case we solved.

 **Shiro Kiruma** : I will cut out your goddamn tongue…

 **Reiko Ono** : Try me, bitch! Try me!

 **Akira Kazue** : Then how are we supposed to figure out if she died if there wasn't a time of death? Why would Monokuma NOT bring that up!

 **Monokuma** : It's a mystery, stupid. Use your head!

 **Hana Okamoto** : I'm just gonna use my brain and how numbers work. Akami died first, Miho died during the investigation!

 **Airi Kudo: I can see through that!**

 **Airi Kudo Cont'd** : I was the one who investigated the scene, and I notice there was quite a lot of damage in the pool area. But one in particular might help us figure out something.

 **Reiko Ono** : And that'd be…

 **Airi Kudo** : A clock that had fallen off the wall, shattering on the ground. The minute hand fell off, but the hour hand remained… 12 o' clock. And since Akami's discovery happened around 8, and the class trial happened before noon, we can only assume that the clock was broken at midnight.

 **Reiko Ono** : Couldn't it have been broken at noon the night before?

 **Kenji Taisei** : Err… no. Because when Setsuki, Yukiji and I went swimming last night, the clock wasn't broken. It would have had to be broken after we left.

 **Akira Kazue** : Kenji, you went swimming last night?

 **Kenji Taisei** : Yeah, after I helped you guys get to the hospital, Setsuki and Yukiji wanted to try and relax for a bit, so we hit the pool.

 **Setsuki Yori** : Yeah, I hit a sick dive from the roof!

 **Yukiji Chimon** : Oh God, don't remind me… You scared me so bad…

 **Setsuki Yori** : I hit a double backflip! I felt like one of those Olympic ladies.

 **Kenji Taisei** : You caused a splash so big it hit the glass roof… There was water everywhere when we got out of the pool. I almost slipped and fell in!

 **Reiko Ono** : ...You dove from the fucking roof!? What are you, insane!?

 **Setsuki Yori** : Yeah, a little.

 **Yukata Watanabe** : At least she's honest…

 **Airi Kudo** : Another thing that would allude to the time of Miho's death is the blood stains on the walls, and the frame of the door.

 **Akira Kazue** : Blood stains, huh…

 **Airi Kudo** : They were dry. Despite the fact when we found Miho's body, she was soaked to the bone, even her wounds were wet.

 **Hana Okamoto** : So that would mean.. Uhh.. That the blood would have to be old, right?

 **Airi Kudo** : Exactly. Miho's injuries are old, at least more than a few hours before Akami's killing.

 **Reiko Ono** : But that doesn't make sense. That wasn't how she died! She could have gotten the cuts around the time she died. Can we please just vote Shiro? We spent all this goddamn time on him…

 **Akira Kazue** : But that would mean we're voting on a hunch. We could all die, do you really want that, Reiko?

 **Reiko Ono** : No! Just… it feels like we've been arguing this last hour over absolutely fucking nothing, if this is the case we have to vote on.

 **Airi Kudo** : That's wrong, Reiko… Even if this is the culprit we have to vote on… We still proved that Shiro almost definitely killed Akami.

 **Reiko Ono** : We found Miho's body in the locker room. Was there anything that could have killed her in there?

 **Airi Kudo** : We found absolutely nothing else with bloodstains on it, except for the broken door at the entrance, and near the wall the broken clock was at. We can assume the head wounds are from her hitting the wall.

 **Setsuki Yori** : So how did she get in the locker room?

 **Airi Kudo** : She was moved there after she died.

 **Reiko Ono: Hold on, motherfucker!**

 **Reiko Ono Cont'd** : Just wait a motherfuckin' minute, Kudo.

 **Airi Kudo** : Is… is there something wrong with what I said?

 **Reiko Ono** : Fuck yeah there was something wrong with what you said.

 _Debate Starts_

 **Reiko Ono** : So you're sayin' that Miho's body was killed, and then moved to the locker room?

 **Airi Kudo** : Indeed, I am.

 **Reiko Ono** : If her body is wet, she was because she must have been in the pool. You admit that, right!?

 **Airi Kudo** : We haven't discussed it, but I can assume that the wrinkles on her fingers and the status of her body means she was in the pool at some point.

 **Reiko Ono** : Then if Miho died before Akami, and was moved to the locker room, why is the blood dry, but her body wet?

 **Reiko Ono Cont'd** : If you can't explain that, she couldn't have fucking died before Akami!

 **Kenji Taisei: No, that's wrong!**

 **Kenji Taisei** : Remember how the clock said 12 o' clock when it was broken?

 **Reiko Ono** : And?

 **Kenji Taisei** : Monokuma's pool rules would state that no one can go in the pool after 10 PM. It's why Yukiji, Setsuki and I all left after swimming half an hour. We didn't want to be in the pool when curfew struck. The body couldn't be removed if it fell in the pool.

 **Airi Kudo** : And that means… The most likely cause of death was drowning. Something caused Miho to drown to death. And the body could only be removed afterward.  
Monokuma: Yep! If someone got in my pool during curfew, I would curb em! Right then and there!

 **Kenji Taisei** : But Miho fell in around 12.

 **Monokuma** : She was dyin' anyway… There wouldn't have been a point. I can't interfere in a murder, remember?

 **Yukata Watanabe** : I'm surprised he sticks to that rule. I thought he would break it already.

 **Monokuma** : What am I but an honorable bear!? Have I not fed you? Clothed you? Kept you warm when the nights were cold!?

 **Setsuki Yori** : You didn't do anything like that, dude.

 **Monokuma** : (Sniffles) H-how could you say that…?

 **Yukata Watanabe** : (Sarcastic) Oh no, you hurt his feelings. Blah blah whatever,

 **Akira Kazue** : So… She died. Drowned in the pool, and was fished out later, then put in the locker room.

 **Kenji Taisei** : Then they barricaded the door, and tried to escape the room by kicking down the vent and crawling through it.

 **Setsuki Yori** : Yeah! And since the ladder is still set up, it would mean they could climb up to the roof and escape that way, instead of walking through the broken front door!

 **Yukata Watanabe** : Did… Setsuki just say something smart? Holy shit.

 **Setsuki Yori** : Yeah, I did! That's what you get for saying I'm an idiot, you douche canoe!

 **Yukata Watanabe** : Uhh… Sorry.

 **Hana Okamoto** : Wow, temper.

 **Kenji Taisei** : Yeah, we all need to chill out a bit. I know the trial's longer than usual, but we can't start throwing barbs at each other. We gotta stick together.

 **Setsuki Yori** : ...Sorry, Yukata.

 **Yukata Watanabe** : It's cool. Anyway, where were we?

 **Setsuki Yori** : Anyway… You guys remember back when Reiko and Miho fought, and Reiko got slammed through the snack table? Do you think they kept fighting afterward?

 **Airi Kudo** : Maybe, we have no other leads as to where Miho went after she left the hospital around 8 PM.

 **Setsuki Yori** : And… To be honest, I remember seeing Reiko around breakfast this morning, just after the morning bell. And she was wet, and covered in tree leaves. If she went in the pool, and dove from the roof into the trees, wouldn't she be covered in water and leaves?

 **Yukata Watanabe** : Oh no… She's still saying things that makes sense. Someone stop her!

 **Reiko Ono** : Setsuki, that was a buncha bullshit and you know it. How the hell do you think that means I was there?

 **Setsuki Yori** : Sorry! I just remember you having leaves in your hair, I was afraid to ask.

 **Reiko Ono** : Well thanks, asshole. Now it sounds like I dove from the goddamn roof. Do you guys even have proof I was there? I fell in the fountain that morning!

 **Airi Kudo** : Did the fountain have leaves in it?

 **Reiko Ono** : No shit it did! Why else would I get leaves in my hair if the place I fell in didn't have leaves?

 **Akira Kazue** : Are you sure you weren't at the pool?

 **Reiko Ono** : No fucking way.

 **Airi Kudo** : Kenji, do you have a way to figure out if Reiko was in the pool facility or not? 

**Kenji Taisei: This should prove it!**

 **Kenji Taisei Cont'd** : When I crawled through the vents, my shirt got snagged on a corner. When I got it free, I found a piece of black cloth in the same snag.

 **Airi Kudo** : You think it may have come from Reiko's jacket.

 **Kenji Taisei** : Exactly.

 **Reiko Ono** : Well my fucking jacket is fine!

 **Haru Yamada** : Yeah, but everyone has spares of their clothes. We're not just wearing the same pairs every day, that'd be just gross. Even that one Kenji butchered to wear inverted!

 **Kenji Taisei** : I can't believe someone remembers that. Don't remind me!

 **Akira Kazue** : So she was knocked into the pool, and Monokuma didn't punish her. Why didn't she get out of the pool? Did she know that Monokuma was gonna kill her anyway?

 **Airi Kudo** : Well… Her Monokuma file states her neck was broken. Paralysis could have been some of the symptoms… She would have been unable to move.

 **Haru Yamada** : She drowned while fully awake, and unable to move? Oh my god… That's a nightmare.

 **Reiko Ono** : And you're saying I crawled through a fucking vent now. What am I, a child?

 **Kenji Taisei** : No, it's not that! Just… unless you were Haru, most of us could probably fit in that vent.

 **Airi Kudo** : Reiko, if you can prove you had an alibi for Miho's murder, I'm pretty sure we can set this whole thing aside for now.

 **Airi Kudo Cont'd** : Ruling out witnesses from Akami's murder… That would leave the remaining bystanders as Me, Kenji, Setsuki, Yukiji, and Reiko.

 **Reiko Ono** : Then the fuck's your alibi, lady? I see you wearin' black and no one's talking shit about you, are they?

 **Airi Kudo** : The night before? I went to the library to read, then when Kenji came back, I went downstairs to greet him. After that, I went to bed.

 **Kenji Taisei** : Yeah, that's pretty much how I remember it. Me, Setsuki, and Yukiji went swimming for half an hour, we towelled off, went back to the dorm and Airi came down from the third floor to speak to us.

 **Kenji Taisei Cont'd** : She wanted help finding books related to diseases in the morning. She wanted to see if Despair Disease was related to another disease.

 **Airi Kudo** : I thought it might be a strain based off Borna Disease, or Kuru. Despite the fact to get Kuru you usually have to eat someone's brain.

 **Hana Okamoto** : That's really unsettling. Can we not talk about eating brains for the rest of this trial? Pleasethanks.

 **Airi Kudo** : Nevertheless, That is most of us accounted for except for you, Reiko. What were you doing last night? Did anyone see you?

 **Reiko Ono** : I was doin' plenty of shit! After that bitch put me through a table, I went back to my room for the night!

 **Kenji Taisei** : I'll be honest, I didn't even see you until you met up with us for Akami's investigation.

 **Reiko Ono** : Yeah, well fuck you too, Kenji. 

**Kenji Taisei** : Reiko, I wanna believe you didn't do it but everything me and Airi found leads back to you.

 **Reiko Ono** : Oh, bullshit you wanna believe me! You spent a goddamn hour not even thinking about doubting Shiro, then you act like you're goddamn Sherlock Holmes after like 10 minutes of discussion. It's horseshit!

 **Kenji Taisei** : Reiko, just say something that proves you didn't do it. Give us a chance to doubt our own conclusion.

 **Reiko Ono: Oh, you wanna fucking go, Kenji?!**

 **Reiko Ono** : I'm not taking this shit! I didn't fucking kill Miho! I've had it with your first year psych student bullshit, okay!?

 **Kenji Taisei: We're not giving up!**

 **Kenji Taisei** : Reiko, you're going around in circles. If you have any proof you didn't do it, where is it? It's not a hard question!

 **Reiko Ono** : Here's your fuckin' proof! I never saw Miho after the luau! I was in my lab the whole time!

 **Kenji Taisei** : You said you were in your room before! Which was it, Reiko?!

 **Reiko Ono** : I went to my lab _then_ my room! Dipshit!

 **Kenji Taisei** : No one saw you after last night. And the only person who did see you, mentioned you were covered in leaves! What were you doing?!

 **Reiko Ono** : I fell in the fountain! Get the shit out of your ears, Kenji! 

**Kenji Taisei** : We found a piece of your jacket in the pool room's vent. We have proof you were in the pool room!

 **Reiko Ono:** If I had to fish Miho out of the pool without knocking the door down, I would have had to wait at least 7 hours to fish her out. ****

 **Reiko Ono Cont'd** : If I wanted to kill Miho, Why would I fish her body out, instead of letting her just drown!?

 **Kenji Taisei: It was an accident!**

 **Reiko Ono** : What?

 **Kenji Taisei** : You… You didn't mean to kill Miho. Did you?

 **Reiko Ono** : You're… full of shit.

 **Kenji Taisei** : This murder was so… not planned. It was so chaotic, and it seems like the culprit panicked once they realized that they killed her. Reiko… Can you just explain what happened?

 **Reiko Ono** : Kenji… You asshole. I didn't want to kill Miho, she goaded me into it. And… I fucked up.

 **Kenji Taisei** : How?

 **Reiko Ono** : Miho challenged me to a fight, she thought that if we kept arguing, someone would die. She left me a note, and told me to meet her at the fountain.

 **Reiko Ono Cont'd** : I did. And we fought, eventually, we ended up around the pool.

 **Reiko Ono Cont'd** : I… I slipped. Miho fell on her neck and fell into the pool. I realized she wasn't moving, so I wanted to rescue her. Then that stupid fucking bear got in the way!

 **Setsuki Yori** : Was it from the dive I took earlier…?

 **Reiko Ono** : Yeah it was, you idiot! Still. Monokuma told me if I rescued her from the pool, I'd die from violating one of his regulations.

 **Monokuma** : I'm very strict about my pool rules.

 **Reiko Ono** : Eat shit, you stupid bitch. I'm pretty sure you broke a stupid rule by stopping me from saving her…

 **Monokuma** : And Miho broke a rule by falling in. She was dead the moment she fell in the water, regardless of if you saved her. Your action matters, Ono. Not your intentions.

 **Akira Kazue** : Wait, she challenged you? You sure it wasn't the other way around?

 **Reiko Ono** : Of course she did, you idiot. She's Miho. Of course she wants to fucking fight.

 _(A note appears on the screen beside Monokuma reading_

 _"We need to settle this. 11 PM, at the fountain._

 _You know what to do -Miho")_

 **Reiko Ono Cont'd** : Yep, that one. And now I'm the Blackened I guess. I wish that punk bitch Shiro was… He's an actual murderer. I didn't think the asshole would kill someone around the time I did.

Kenji Taisei: Are you sure that you're the Blackened?

 **Reiko Ono** : Pretty goddamn sure… Miho died around midnight, Akami died 8 hours later. So she's the one we're investigating this whole time. I hoped that we could pin Shiro for it once things got heated… But I knew I was guilty. This whole time…

(Reiko looked down, taking off her hat and crumpling it in her hand)

 **Reiko Ono Cont'd** : I've been nothing but a fuck up, huh? I get it. I act tough and piss you guys off, and ruin every fucking thing because I want to be a badass. And now I die, with fucking nothing because of it. No gang, no friends, nothing.

 **Reiko Ono Cont'd** : Ain't life a bitch?

 **Akira Kazue** : So… I guess we have to sort things out, then vote.

 **Akira Kazue: The pieces are all coming together!**

 **Akira Kazue** : The murders both began from a similar place, the Luau. Monokuma decided to spike drinks with Despair Disease to alter some of our personalities, and make it potentially easier to murder. Each one of us drank from different drinks, but the students who got sick drank specifically from the green punch.

We'll start with Shiro, who was eavesdropping on a conversation I was having with Akami. He heard a very specific set of words from Akami, that he was allergic to shellfish. I don't know if he hatched out the plan then and there, or if he decided it once the motive was revealed… But he planned this ahead of time.

The disease began to infect the students, Yukata became a liar, Hana became a coward, and Akami became gullible. After a scuffle between Miho and our culprit, we decided to take these three to the hospital to treat them. This is where Shiro's complex plan began.

He wasn't sick from Despair Disease, so he feigned it instead. Biting his tongue hard enough to bleed, and going into a coughing fit, he managed to trick us into thinking he was showing signs of being sick, and possibly even provide an alibi for himself once it was revealed that students with despair disease, cannot be used as witnesses because they don't remember what happened when they were sick.

Haru and I decided together that we would treat the four students in shifts, starting with mine. Yukata and Akami were set up in one room, and Hana and Shiro were set up in the other. Akami and Yukata were starting to be trouble, so I went to the MonoMono Medi-Chene to see if I could find a way to deal with their antics.

I gathered Vitamins, Duct Tape, An army knife, and strangely, our murder weapon. I used the duct tape on Yukata, and the Vitamins to distract Akami. The swiss army knife was put on a nearby table, and the shrimp paste was thrown away. I don't know when Shiro got the shrimp paste, but he must have been following me carefully to retrieve it.

The night drew long, and I began to grow tired. I decided to make food for everyone, and wake up Haru to get some sleep. Another thing Shiro must have learned from listening to me talk. His symptoms were apparently less severe, so we had no need to tie him to bed. He got up, untied Hana and scared her to send her running through the halls, and hoping I would have to stop cooking to catch her instead.

Hana barreled through the halls, ending up crashing into a table and breaking some glass, distracting me from making sandwiches for everyone. This only distracted me for about 10 minutes, but more than enough time for Shiro's deceptively simple murder. He took a kitchen knife, and the discarded shrimp paste he collected and spreaded a thin layer on each one.

Spreading on each one guaranteed that despite which one I gave to Akami, he would die from it while the rest of us would be fine. He completed the sandwiches, putting both knives into the dishwasher and quietly escaping the room. He followed me and Hana up the building, but intentionally took a route I couldn't see, by taking the staircase, and heading back through Akami's room, though the room with a sleeping Haru and back into his before I could take Hana back to her room via the elevator.

I could have noticed the sandwiches were changed, but I was too tired to notice at the time. I took them upstairs and fed them to all of the students, including Akami. I removed the tape from Yukata so he could eat. Akami suffered from an allergic reaction, his throat swelled shut, and he began to panic. He couldn't escape his bed, so he clawed desperately at his throat while he asphyxiated. Blood went everywhere on his bed, and even under his fingernails.

Too panicked to escape the confines of his bed, Akami died there. Haru could have heard him, if he wasn't downstairs making breakfast, I forgot to tell him I did already… So that fact was partially my fault.

One thing that only Shiro and I knew was Akami's allergy, so Shiro's next movements seemed cruel, but it was actually carefully planned to distance himself from the murder and make it seem possible he died some less specific way. He went to Akami's room, put tape back on Yukata's mouth so he wouldn't wake me, and put on a pair of surgical gloves.

He stole Akami's gown, put on the gloves, and took a scalpel from a nearby table. He took him from his bed, pulled him near the window and sliced his wrists. He then wrapped a blanket around Akami's neck. If I recall, Shiro wasn't able to tie knots, so he broke the lock on the window and propped each side of the window on the windowsill. He slung Akami's light body from the window, slamming it shut to hold the blanket in place. And to ensure it wouldn't move, he lodged the swiss army knife he used to break the lock to hold the window shut.

After doing this, he returned to bed, and waited to hear someone notice what he did. He then got up, heading back into the on-call room to wake me up and find the body outside with everyone else. But, the rule about not being able to be a witness with Despair Disease was Shiro's downfall, he couldn't change how the body discovery worked… And yet, Shiro isn't our culprit.

 **Kenji Taisei** : The murder we were supposed to solve wasn't Akami's, it was Miho's. Miho got into a fight with our culprit last night around the same time Shiro began his plot. But, a murder wasn't what Miho had in mind. Miho wanted a fight, the typical way The Ultimate Joshi would in the hopes of settling the issues between her and the culprit.

The culprit most likely did storm back to their room after the Luau, but Miho left them a note to come meet her near the fountain for a fight. Around this time, Setsuki, Yukiji and I wanted to get some swimming in before the curfew struck, unaware of either of the murder plots unraveling. Setsuki climbed up to the pool's roof, diving off and covering the pool room floor with water. We didn't clean up the water when we left. The battle started outside, and ended up spilling through the pool room.

One of the two combattants was slammed through the door, breaking it off its hinges and leaving the fight in the pool room. As expected from a fight between the two, Miho and the culprit smashed up the place, leaving holes in the walls, cracks in the floor and knocking a clock off the floor. The second hand broke off in the drop, but the hour hand remained, stopped at 12. This means that the murder we had to solve took place eight hours before the second murder, which we discovered first.

During the fight, in an attempt to throw Miho, the culprit slipped on the wet floor, dropping Miho on her neck. Miho fell into the pool, but because we weren't allowed in the pool after 10 P.M., Monokuma warned the culprit that they would be punished if they went in to rescue Miho, who was paralyzed and couldn't escape from the pool herself. The culprit, furious but unable to do anything, stayed and waited until Monokuma's morning announcement. They then fished Miho's body out and put placed in the locker room.

In contrast to Shiro's murder, the culprit wanted us to not find Miho's body rather than set anyone up to take the fall. They forced the broken pool room door back into the frame, then propped a bench against the locker room before making their escape. They kicked open a ventway in the locker room, crawling through it. As the culprit crawled, a piece of their jacket got snagged and tore off. They made it to the roof, where the ladder Setsuki used for her dive was still there, allowing them to climb down.

On the way back, the culprit's clothes were wet and covered in leaves and when Setsuki saw them and asked about this, the culprit claimed to have fallen into the fountain.

 **Akira Kazue** : Setsuki was the first to find Akami's body, Haru running to meet upon hearing her screams. Shiro and I headed for Akami's room, my sighting setting off the body discovery announcement.

 **Kenji Taisei** : Airi and I then investigated Akami's murder, missing a few details that Akira would find in a crucial moment. On the way to the trial, Akira noticed Miho wasn't in the group. Monokuma gave us a hint to check the pool, where we found Miho's body in the locker room…

 **Akira Kazue** : And if we hadn't found Miho, we would've gone through the trial without finding the Blackened, which was you…

 **Kenji Taisei: Reiko Ono, the Ultimate School Delinquent!**

 **Reiko Ono** : It's still pretty shitty. You bust your ass the whole time to figure out Shiro's case, and it ended up being a waste of time. Since you guys all gotta vote for me anyway and it woulda been an easier trial, too.

 **Monokuma** : That was weirdly meta.

Yukata Watanabe: How the hell was that meta? What are you talking about?

 **Monokuma** : Was I talking to you? I WASN'T TALKING TO YOU! Shaddup!

 **Reiko Ono** : Well, this is it huh? My last ride, right?

 **Kenji Taisei** : Reiko…

 **Reiko Ono** : Cut the sentimental crap, Kenji. Vote for me and let's get this shit over with.

 **Monokuma** : Right-o! Iiiiiit's VOTING TIME!

 _The podiums once again had the voting grid arrive. Wakako, Akami and Miho had all been crossed out. Kenji, heart heavy at having to sentence a friend to death, lingered on Reiko's button, closing his eyes and gritting his teeth as he decided on his vote._

 **Shiro Kiruma** : Kenji, you're stalling. Everyone else has already voted for Ono. We need to end this. __

 _A few seconds later, the votes were in._

 _Reiko Ono: 5 votes  
Shiro Kiruma: 4 votes_

 _A chipper tune played, as Shiro, Akira, Airi, Yukiji, and Setsuki's podiums began to shoot out Monocoins_

 **Monokuma** : You guys were a hair's breadth away from blowing it! Good job, people!

 **Shiro Kiruma** : Heh, what a waste of half the votes. I mean, this whole trial was a waste anyway.

 **Kenji Taisei** : What?

 **Shiro Kiruma** : I mean, you all did good job in solving the murders, but you don't understand one thing about the rules. 

**Kenji Taisei** : Shiro, what are you talking about?

 **Shiro Kiruma** : Oh, you don't follow? Let me make this clear to you, Kenji.

 _Shiro pulled out his Monopad, putting the Enoshima University Regulations on the screen._

 **Shiro Kiruma** : Regulation #2: If and when a murder in the university is committed, a class trial will be conducted. Participation for this trial is mandatory for all living students. And regulation #3: If the killer (Referred to as 'The Blackened' from this point on) is identified and voted guilty in the class trial, they will be subject to **punishment.  
**

 **Shiro Kiruma Cont'd** : I was not voted guilty, therefore you have this situation. I am not a spotless student, I am a culprit. A culprit that wasn't voted for. Those two status' cannot exist together, so I believe I'm in the situation to graduate. I wasn't voted guilty, despite being a killer. In other words, I win.

 **Monokuma** : Hah! Nope! Not even close.

 **Shiro Kiruma** : What.

 **Monokuma** : This wasn't your trial, Shiro. This was never your trial, and anyway… They've solved your murder. If I let you escape, it would count as a loophole!

 **Shiro Kiruma** : But I DID what you said! I commited a murder, and didn't get voted as the Blackened! What other thing was I supposed to do in this shitshow of a killing game!?

 **Monokuma** : I mean, besides not getting caught, you could try killing someone a little faster!

 **Monokuma** : And you think you're going to get away with a murder on a technicality. You're going to win the killing game? On a loophole? What kind of fool do you take me for, Shiro!? You have to WIN my killing game. And do it right, too! ****

 **Shiro Kiruma** : Fuck you! I did everything you asked, you filth! If that bitch Ono hadn't gone and ruined everything, I would've been back in the outside world and away from all of you! ****

 **Reiko Ono** : Oh fuck you too, Shiro. You goddamn worthless pussy of a person, it should be you! You're the piece of shit who actually decided to kill someone! I can at least look at myself and not want to blow my brains out from being a garbage person like you. I can look at Akira and say 'I didn't mean to kill your girlfriend' and actually fucking mean it.

 **Reiko Ono Cont'd** : People like you are worthless, Shiro. You're just like that little fuckface Tetsuya. You deserve to die!

 **Shiro Kiruma** : Save me the bullshit, Ono. You're a degenerate bitch, I pegged you as a killer the moment I fucking saw you! I'm even surprised it took two other murders before you decided to rip someone's dick off.

 **Hana Okamoto** : Okay this is getting really uncomfortable, guys…

 **Shiro Kiruma** : You abortion of a human being, I can't believe I could even represent you in the real world as a senator in Japan. How fucking dare you talk down to me, you cur!

 **Kenji Taisei** : Shiro, you need to shut up!

 **Akira Kazue** : Reiko, stop it!

 **Monokuma** : Wow, this has turned into one of those trashy reality shows! Let them fight! Let them fight!

 **Reiko Ono** : Just fucking kill me already so I don't have to listen to this fuckface anymore.

 **Reiko Ono Cont'd** : Just remember one thing, Shiro. When I get out of Hell, I'm dragging you back down with me, motherfucker. That goes double for you, whoever the fuck Monokuma really is!

 **Monokuma** : Yeah, yeah. I've heard that so many times I lost count! Now then, since you built a perfect case against her… the Blackened, Reiko Ono, shall receive her punishment!

 **Kenji Taisei** : Reiko… There has to be some way we can change the verdict.

 **Monokuma** : Nope! And I've got a veeeerry special punishment all set up for Reiko Ono, the Ultimate School Delinquent! On your marks? Get set? Let's give it all we got! It's punishment time!

 **Reiko Ono** : You're an okay guy, Kenji. At least you didn't piss me off. Don't let that motherfucker Shiro get away with his bullshit. 'kay?

 _Monokuma reached for his small mallet and hit the button situated in front of him._

 _ **GAME OVER, REIKO HAS BEEN FOUND GUILTY. It's time for the punishment!**_

**Reiko Ono** : Later, losers. 

_Reiko scowled and gave a thumbs down, as a chain and collar dragged her away to her execution. Her expression was like stone as she was pulled through a pair of double doors, as if she accepted this long before anyone else did._


	34. Execution 3

**EXECUTION 3: 1 v 1000:Turbo Maximum Carnage**

Reiko got out of her chains as she saw that she in was a mockup of a warehouse beside the docks of Kyoto Bay. She wandered through the dark night until she entered a warehouse facility, where she found a baseball bat with a piece of paper wrapped around the end of it. She pulled the bat off the wall, unfolded the note and read it. 'You're gonna need this! - Monokuma'

Kenji, watching the monitor wasn't sure how this execution was going to play out. He saw the title, and he saw Reiko retrieving the bat, but is that enough for her to make it out of there? Reiko slung the bat over a shoulder and walked back out onto the road near the dock, when her silhouette was lit by the lights of a muscle car, that just turned it's engines on.

Shielding her eyes, she saw one thing, a single Monokuma on the car, standing on the hood and quietly gesturing her to turn around with one of his fingers. Reiko sighed, turning around to see over 1000 Monokumas waiting for her, claws drawn, and their single red eyes all glowing. One at a time, they funneled in, charging her. Reiko spun her bat in her fingers and sneered. "BRING IT ON, FUCKERS!" Reiko shouted, not even flinching as she charged into the field of Monokuma's like a madman.

She slammed her nail bat into one, hearing the electronics inside buzz with electricity. She dodged one's pounce as she bicycle kicked the Monokuma back into the crowd, making it explode and take out another 25 Monokumas with it. One hopped on her back, biting into the flesh and drawing blood. Reiko grabbed the back of her neck, ripping it off and pole vaulting on the edge of her bat to crush his head in with her knee, before hitting a hockey shot on it with her bat to blow up another couple dozen still trying to attack her.

The muscle car revved up and began to charge at her. But she lept the hood, and slammed both feet into the windshield, drop kicking the Monokuma out of it, and stealing the car. She slammed it into reverse, and began to mow down the Monokumas with the back of the muscle car. Reiko felt the rumble of the Monokumas exploding underneath the car. The car began to cough up black smoke from under the hood, Reiko rolling out of the car as it gave out. She ran as the the smoke intensified and within seconds the car exploded into a storm of fire and shrapnel, taking out a small chunk of Monokumas with it.

Some shrapnel from the car flew into Reiko's shoulder, making her sputter out blood as she had to switch arms to hold her nail bat. The students on the monitor watched, all but Shiro cheering Reiko on as she continued to swing at the Monokumas. The swiping claws of the Monokuma's broke Reiko's bat in half. So she pulled out as many nails as she could, and then began to use them as makeshift claws to stab through even more bear robots. Reiko's jacket began to catch fire from the eruptions surrounding her, burning her skin as she ripped the jacket off, tossing it onto a Monokuma to ignite it.

The number of Monokumas continued to dwindle. Reiko's arm was dislocated, her face was burned to the point she could only use one eye, her clothes were in tatters and she was bleeding from a massive gash in her leg. But her rage wasn't dwindled as she charged, slammed, and stabbed through each Monokuma like a raging bull. She battered and pummeled them until the last Monokuma had fallen, or so she thought. Another Monokuma stood up, and Reiko threw a nail, piercing it through the eye and killing it.

"She… she did it… She did it! In your face, Monokuma!" Kenji exclaimed happily, pointing a finger straight at Monokuma. The students celebrated Reiko's victory as Monokuma began to softly chuckle

"Puhuhuhuhu~ did she now?" Monokuma asked, chuckling further and pointing toward the monitor. Reiko, taking in heavy breaths, fell to the floor hard. She shut her eyes, feeling the pain of all the damage she had taken hit her at once. The seared flesh, the broken bones and flow of blood from the slashes across her body. She grit her teeth, feeling her eyes grow heavy as her life began to fade. Reiko listened to the peaceful sounds of the night as she laid there, ready to go when the sudden roar of an engine broke through the silence.

 **EXECUTION: 1 v 1000+1 Turbo Maximum Carnage**

Reiko's eyes shot open as she turned to see the headlights of a parked car flash to life. Within seconds, the car sped toward her, tires squealing. She scrambled, getting back onto one knee, before getting smashed into the car in a pile of gore.

"50 points! Whoo! EXTREEEEME~" Monokuma exclaimed, jumping up and down as the students around him watched, horror in their eyes. Kenji, hands balled into fists, leapt off his podium and charged for Monokuma. He was immediately stopped by Akira, Haru,Yukata and Airi.

"You son of a bitch! Reiko won that fight! You cheated!" Kenji shouted, struggling against his classmates. Monokuma just started laughing at that complaint.

"Why the hell would I risk 1000 Monokumas if I thought I wasn't gonna win!? It was an execution! Reiko lost the moment Miho died. She admittedly did better than I thought." Monokuma said, Kenji struggling to escape the hold.

"Kenji! Calm down! It's over!" Akira shouted, pulling him back from the podiums. They kept dragging him out of the trial room as Kenji struggled, trying to get to Monokuma. Kenji was forced back into the elevator, Kenji finally forcing his way out of their grip and trying to leave when the door slammed shut. Kenji slammed into the fencing, shaking it violently.

"Let me at him! I'll rip his fucking bear guts out!" Kenji spat out, shaking the chain before Haru and Yukata pulled him away from the elevator door.

"Breathe, Kenji. Take it easy, bro. We've had enough people die today, I think..." Yukata said, Kenji taking deep breaths as the elevator lifted off the floor, sending them away from the trial room.

The air in the dining hall was different than previous dinners after a trial. The oppressive gloom that the students felt after Emi's and Wakako's executions had been replaced with a bitter anger. It seemed that many had shared Kenji's sentiment of the unfair nature of Reiko being the Blackened, and of Monokuma's punishment leaving the false hope that she had a chance of survival only to be brutally snuffed out. Monokuma's congratulation for a successful trial was met with harsh glares, and when he left the hostility turned to another. Shiro Kiruma.

Shiro sat at his own table, as he had done since the Killing Game began. However, the students had usually left him to his own but were now turning hateful looks at him between bites. Even Airi shot a furious glare at him before heading off, food untouched at her table. Akira got up, walking over to Kenji's table. "You guys… we need to talk about Shiro." she said.

"Like… What do we do about him?" Hana asked, spinning her braided hair on one finger as she spoke. "I… I didn't think he would be that heartless, y'know?" She mentioned, looking at Shiro sitting on the entire opposite end of the room, arms crossed over his chest as he looked at the floor.

Kiko growled at Shiro, body crouched onto the table and waiting to pounce. "Easy, girl…" Haru said, petting her gently. "We don't gotta start trouble right now. Just eat your food." he said, guiding the ball of fluff to her food bowl, softly reaching behind her head to give her more pats.

"It's not just him being heartless. It's just… everyone else who killed has been punished. Shiro killed someone and he's still alive." Akira explained.

"And he was pretty much controlling the trial for the longest time. He tried to throw at least three of us under the bus and came close with Haru." Yukata said in agreement.

"Right? And with every other murder, it was either an accident or an act of passion. Shiro's was planned and calculated at a level we never had to deal with. He only got away on a technicality, but we can't risk him killing again. He might be successful the second time around." Akira replied. "What do you think, Kenji?" she asked.

"Reiko shouldn't have been the culprit. You know it, Akira. There's a difference between a murder and an accident!" Kenji said, stabbing into his half-eaten ravioli. "Shiro… That son of a bitch actually killed someone. How is it fair he gets to live?"

"I know, Kenji. But there's nothing we can do about it now but make sure he doesn't think to kill again. And I think I have an idea on how to do that." Akira said, softly swirling a spoon in her drink. "We have a jail cell in my lab, with handcuffs. I'll lock him in a pair, and hide the key on some people I'll trust not to give it to him. It's the only way we could be safe." she explained.

"Really now, Kazue? You're going to treat me like a common criminal? I expected better from you…" Shiro said suddenly, the group turning to see him standing in front of them. Haru stood up from his seat, and stood between the two.

"You ain't part of this conversation, Shiro. Leave." Haru said curtly.

"Really? I figured since you were talking about locking me in a cell, I should have a say in that." Shiro said, pushing up his glasses.

Akira stood up, leaning over her end of the table to glare at him. "You killed someone. What would you want, for us to look the other way? We need _consequences_ , Shiro. We might be in a killing game, but you can't just tread on us." she said.

"I am not treading on you, but if you recall the first regulation, students are required to cohabitate together. And we certainly cannot cohabitate if your group insists on hostility against me." Shiro said in response.

"You only give a shit about the regulations when they benefit you, asshole!" Kenji said, slamming both his hands on the table and standing like Akira.

"Kenji, I have always acted within the Regulations of Enoshima University. I haven't attempted acts of violence against Dean Monokuma, I have participated in every Class Trial, gone to bed at exactly 10 P.M. and correctly identified the Blackened three times straight, unlike you." Shiro said, holding up a finger as he listed each rule he followed. "I even committed my murder within regulations. I had no accomplices, and didn't break any rules during the murder."

"You also killed someone, meaning you're also Blackened and yet you didn't get punished." Kenji shot back. "You lied about Despair Disease so we couldn't suspect you!"

"I killed someone, I was not the Blackened. I'm sorry that this upsets you so much, Kenji. But lying about Despair Disease was not something punishable in the regulations, I believe." Shiro explained, Kenji gritting his teeth in response.

"It's not like I want to be here either. I intended to graduate and be well on my way to freedom, not have to live here for even longer." Shiro continued, Kenji shaking from clenching his fists so hard his knuckles turned white.

"But how could you say that? We're people too, Shiro… We live in the same country! We have to help each other escape from here." Akira pleaded with frustration.

"Do we? Helping each other has done nothing but be oblivious to murderers under the assumption 'There's no way they could possibly commit a murder!' But.. Guess what? We're wrong every time. They always commit murder, Kazue. Nakayama, Nagase, Ono… all of them. We're not here to be friends, we're not here for sunshine, rainbows, love or peace. Your attempts to be an authority are pompous at best, and painfully ignorant of the real world at worst. We're here to murder each other for someone's enjoyment. Pretending we're friends is adding unneeded suffering." Shiro said coldly, Kenji jumping over the table and grabbing Shiro by the scruff of his shirt.

"What the fuck do you want, Shiro? Why are you talking to us if you really hate people that much?" Kenji asked venomously, Shiro slapping his hand away and went to adjust his tie.

"Truth be told, Kenji, I was here to thank you." Shiro admitted, everyone looking at him in confusion.

"Thank him? For what? Exposing how much of an asshole you are?" Haru mentioned, but Setsuki decided to chirp in as a reply to that.

"I mean, we kinda knew that already. Just.. not the extent of how much of a dick Shiro is." she said, Shiro scoffing at her before turning his eyes back to Kenji.

"I want to thank him for reminding me who I am. This whole Killing Game I've been… a coward, as it were. I'd spend all my time sitting around in my safety net, avoiding you all because I knew one of you would start the murders. But at the Relay, Kenji had sad a lot of useless words as he does, but one thing stuck out to me. 'Why can't you just try and win…' and I'll be damned if he wasn't right." Shiro began, Kenji's bafflement turning back to anger.

"I wasn't trying to win the Killing Game. I was taking no risks and expected rewards because Fate had chosen me to lead the country. Kenji reminded me that if I am to gain the support of the people, I need to be willing to prove I'm worth following. So, thank you, Kenji Taisei. It was the epiphany I needed." He explained, but Shiro suddenly felt himself on the ground, Kenji's forearm pushed on his throat.

"Y-you sick fuck! Was that the reason you did all this!? Of all the absolute garbage I've heard come out of some people's mouths… I swear to God, I'll kill you myself if I can't get Monokuma to actually execute you like he promised!" Kenji shouted, but just got spit in the face in response.

"And here we are again. You are just determined to be the Hero of Enoshima University, aren't you? Do you think hurting me is going to bring Emi back?" Shiro said, smirking. His smirk was immediately taking off by Kenji hitting him hard in the jaw.

"Don't you fucking say Emi's name! Don't talk about her like you didn't get her killed, you fucking-" Kenji shouted, getting a shot to the face in response. The two fought on the floor, Kenji smashing his fist into Shiro's face, Shiro biting on the wrist hard enough to draw blood to force him to pull his arm back, only to meet Kenji's elbows hitting him in the face.

"Yeah! Kick his ass, Kenji!" Yukata shouted, pumping his fist in the air as Shiro grabbed at Kenji's arms, trying to force his way out of the mount. Kenji slammed his head down onto Shiro's, sending Shiro's head bouncing against the floor. Haru rushed to pull Kenji off.

"Let off him, man! You're gonna kill him!" Haru shouted, Kenji struggling against the hold on him and shoving Haru off by elbowing him in the stomach.

"Get the fuck off of me, Haru!" Kenji shouted while trying to turn Shiro's face into ground beef. Setsuki got up from the table in a panic, rushing to the side to see if she could get to Akira.

"D-do something! You're the cop, Akira! Please!" Setsuki said shakily, Akira breaking out of watching the carnage unfolding in front of her.

"Ah! R-right!" Akira stammered, running out to the door to suddenly catch Airi throwing her two things, a stun gun, and a pair of handcuffs.

"W-what?" Akira said, still stressed and dumbfounded. "Where'd you find these!?"

"I assumed you moved some of your equipment to your room, I guess I was right." Airi explained, as Akira checked to see if the cartridge was loaded. "It's loaded. I assume you know how to fire the thing, right?" Airi asked.

"I- yeah! Got it!" Akira said replied rapidly and turned toward the fight where Kenji was throttling Shiro, whose face was splattered with his blood, as Shiro clawed at Kenji's eyes. Haru was on top of the two of them, trying futility to peel the two of them apart. Akira widened her stance, lining her eye up with her arm for a good aim. "CLEAR!" she shouted, everyone backing away from Kenji and Shiro's fight and giving her a clear shot.

Within seconds, two prongs fired into Kenji's back, making him suddenly felt the burst of electricity coursing through him, causing to pull his arms back and uncontrollably spasm his arms and back. "F-f-f-f-f-f!" He sputtered out, falling off of Shiro, who scrambled back to his feet like a terrified cat. Blood pouring down his face, his glasses broken as he covered his mouth to stop the blood from leaking from his mouth. He scrambled against the wall, leaving a swipe of blood as he rushed out the exit. Akira ran to Kenji's side, quickly clamping her handcuffs on Kenji behind his back before the taser wore off.

"Let me go! Let me go! S-Shiro's getting away! What are you doing, Akira!? You idiot!"

"I-I'm not letting anyone else die! I've had enough, Taisei!" Akira shouted back as Kenji tried to move out from under her so he could sit up.

"He's going to kill again! Don't you understand that! Don't let him fucking get away! Don't you have a sense of justice!?"

"And I'll stop him, too! You need to fucking stop this! Justice might be blind but goddamnit, if I'm able to stop at least ONE murder I WILL do it every time!" Akira demanded, fighting Kenji on the floor as everyone watched with a sense of dread.

"You guys havin' fun?" Monokuma asked, startling the other people who weren't focused on Kenji and Akira wrestling on the ground.

"W-what do you want!?" Hana shouted at him, Monokuma just shrugging.

"We're running out of new buildings for you guys to check out, but I just wanted to tell ya that the fourth floor of this building is now free to explore!" He said jovially, bouncing once on his feet and offering a ballerina like kick as well. "For now, anyway." He added at the end.

"A fourth floor?" Yukiji asked, rubbing the back of his head as he tried to ignore the fighting going on.

"Yeppers! Fourth floor of the dorm building, that is! But here's the catch… As soon as you _explore_ the floor, the next motive will kick in. I suggest you ALL go and look at it at the same time, when you guys are done with… Whatever this thing is." Monokuma gestured to the police woman and volunteer on the floor as Akira tried to push Kenji's face against the tile to get him to stop trying to thrash at her. Monokuma quickly vanished. Kenji eventually got tired and stopped moving, Akira getting off of him and sighing.

"Move Taisei to his room, lock the door and leave him for the night." Akira ordered the other students, as she turned around to walk off for now.

"But what about the fourth floor?" Yukata asked, but Akira just tucked her hat a bit harder on her head.

"We'll deal with it tomorrow, until then… Everyone is forbidden from going to the fourth floor. We have to explore it together, alright?" Akira ordered, turning toward everyone to look at them with the side of her eye. Haru picked up Kenji, who was silent for now as he carried him off and heading upstairs.

"So, what do we do about Shiro?" Airi asked, Akira sighing and shaking her head.

"I don't know. Everything's falling apart and I just want to go to bed." Akira said, tucking her hands in her pockets. "Just… Stay safe tonight, guys… I'm sorry I couldn't help." she said, walking off without another word. She went back upstairs to the dorms, opening it and walking inside.

Her bed wasn't made this morning, and the closet door was open from Airi scrambling to find something in her room to detain Kenji. She pressed the lock to the door as suddenly her vision began to blur. Tears rushing down her face as she felt all her energy drain, making her collapse onto her hands and knees. She pulled her hat off her hair and snapping the band of her ponytail, letting her blue hair to her shoulders in a mess, some strands even standing up straight.

She threw her hat across the room, making it hit the wall as she curled up into a sobbing mess against the back of the door. Her breath shallow from the heaving as she spent the rest of the night alone on the floor.

 **CHAPTER 3 END**

 **STUDENTS REMAINING: 9**


	35. Chapter 4: Daily Life 1

Chapter 4: Persona Non Grata (Daily Life 1) 

_Ding Dong, Bing Bong_

 _Goooood Morning, Students! It is now 7 AM, morning has officially arrived! Just in case you forgot, the fourth floor is waiting to be explored. Remember, you can only go ONCE!_

Akira spent the entire night leaned against her door. She couldn't find the energy to stand back up. Miho was… one of the reasons why she wanted to fight, despite not knowing her for that long because of her memory loss. Akira had always felt a familiar comfort around Miho, even as Miho spent most of their time teasing her. Even that felt like it was how things were supposed to be. And now… she was gone. She didn't hate Reiko for what she did, but she was confused on what to do next.

 _ **Knock knock**_

Akira jumped at hearing the loud knocking sound reverberating against the wood of her door. She instinctively reached up for her hat, but realized it was missing from her head. She didn't have the energy to go get it, so she slid up the door, ignoring the pain in her neck as she turned around and opened her door.

Yukiji was sheepishly leaning against the frame of the door, his puppylike eyes looking at her with concern. "Uh… Hi." he said, sheepishly waving a sleeved hand to to Akira.

"Oh, hey Yukiji." she said, her voice more listless than usual. Yukiji turned away from her, eyes drifting away as he felt like he was bothering her all of a sudden. Her hair was everywhere, her jacket was missing, leaving a light blue shirt with a 'Kazue' name tag and a tie.

"Oh, sorry. Did I wake you up?" Yukiji asked ruefully, Akira shaking her head.

"No, I… I didn't get a lot of sleep last night…" she admitted, getting a nod from Yukiji in response.

"I didn't sleep all that well, either." Yukiji said, though Akira had difficulty telling that as Yukiji looked like sleep was an alien concept to him already. He looked about as sleepy as he always did. "You want me to wait a bit while you get dressed?" he asked.

"Yeah, I'll only be about five minutes…" Akira said, shutting the door. She looked back at her jacket on the bed and just sighed. If she was being honest with herself, she didn't feel like it. She didn't want to leave this room. To leave and go back to the tension growing amongst their group. She was tired of fighting, either Kenji's temper flipping like a switch, or Shiro's tendency to rake people over the coals with his words. Akira just wanted to curl up on that bed and hope this was all just a series of bad dreams.

But if she pinched herself, the only thing that would happen would be her asking why she pinched herself. This was all real. Why trap people in a school? Why a bear? Akira shook the questions off, because she was leaving Yukiji waiting for her. She opened the door and went through to meet him.

"Uh… You look the same. Did you do something with your hair? Did you always have that cowlick thing?" he asked. Akira gently looked up and reached over the top of her hair to feel a few strands of hair standing straight up and to the side.

"I had that since I was a kid. I can keep it down with hairspray.. But then I found out hairspray also makes my hair flammable. I thought I would rather not be on fire." Akira explained, Yukiji nodding in agreement.

"Yeah, I think less fire is a good thing in general." Yukiji said with a little laugh, though Akira kind of figured he was talking about Wakako… so she didn't pry.

"So, what did you want to see me about?" Akira asked, scratching the back of her head as he thought things over.

"Well.. you seemed out of it, so I wanted to check on you." Yukiji said, hands behind his back and swaying back from his toes to his heels. "Oh! And Kenji wanted me to ask you to find the keys for his handcuffs. Last time I saw him, he was trying to brush his teeth by jamming the toothbrush in the door."

"...He what?" Akira asked, trying to visualize the mental image Yukiji put in her head.

"He was trying to jam his toothbrush in the side of his bedroom door and then rub his teeth against the bristles. At least, that was the plan. I think he was trying to apply the toothpaste with his teeth when I left him." Yukiji elaborated, not helping this sound any more sane. "He was shouting something like 'God dammit, Akira never took these handcuffs off!'" He said, trying his best to match Kenji's voice, and flailing his arms for effect before realizing Kenji had his behind his back, quickly doing the same and flailing his body.

"...Oh. Woops!" Akira said, putting on some fake laughter to try to make the situation of him being royally pissed at her even remotely funny. Her laughter subsided as she scrambled to find the spare handcuff key in her room. She rifled through her drawers, grabbing the key out from her nightstand as Yukiji just watched her running around her room.

"Why did you move your taser and stuff from your lab?" Yukiji asked, Akira tucked the key in her front pocket and walked out briskly to meet him.

"After they were stolen for a murder, I'm not letting anyone touch them without my permission, that's all." she explained.

"Didn't Airi do just that?" Yukiji pointed

"...I forgot to lock my dorm, okay?" Akira said, heading for Kenji's room. She knocked on the door. "Kenji! Are you brushing your teeth in there?"she asked, having to force the question out. Akira only got a muffled shout in response. Akira sighed and turned the knob.

"Get away from the door, Kenji! She ordered, hearing movement in the room. She pulled back a bit before slamming her shoulder against the door to open it, sending the toothbrush flying out of the frame. She quickly ran to Kenji, turning him over and pulling out the key. "Alright, I'm here to unlock you, but you have to do something for me." she said, trying to keep up an authoritative voice. Kenji looked up at her with bugged eyes and a mouth full of toothpaste.

"Look, I don't like Shiro right now any more than you do, but we don't need any more violence. I want you two to not even look at eachother, got it?" Akira asked.

"Mphphphmhm, mrrg." Kenji replied, lips puckered as he tied to hold the toothpaste in.

"That had better be a yes or you're going to learn to open doors with your feet, Kenji." she warned, getting a nod from Kenji. Akira sighed in relief and uncuffed him.

Kenji ran over to spit in the sink before walking back out and rubbing his mouth. "He's still a murderer, Akira. It's not like I can pretend I'm not in the same room with a sociopath… And thanks for locking me up all night! I sure appreciate it!" Kenji complained, the sarcasm failing to be convincing. Akira held up the cuffs as they talked. "And… Why did you tase me?"

"I know he's still a murderer, but I'm the police here. I'm taking responsibility for his actions. And I tased you because you were going to kill him then and there. Police etiquette is about the deceleration of a situation by anything I can think of that doesn't kill someone. Shiro's a jerk, but you hit him first. You were the threat during that situation… Sooo… yeah." Akira finished, feeling awkward and rubbing one of her arms. Kenji took a deep breath, sighing heavily.

"Okay, I'll try to avoid him… but if he goes near me, I can't be held responsible for what I do to him." Kenji said.

"I'll try to keep the two of you separated. This is part of my job, after all." Akira said, tucking her handcuffs back into a slot in her belt before she continued. "I need to see about getting everyone to investigate upstairs." She said, Kenji looking down at the floor, visibly upset.

"Monokuma said the next motive would start the moment we finished investigating upstairs. I don't think it's a good idea." Kenji warned, but Akira sighed and shook her head.

"If we stall out Monokuma, he'll force us into the motive out of impatience. It would be better to investigate on our own time, and prepare for the motive when we're ready." Akira replied. "Besides, even though I'm afraid of what's going to happen, I'm still curious to find out what's on the fourth floor.

"Was there even a fourth floor? When I investigated with Emi, all we found was a weird door near the workshop. There wasn't a staircase or anything." Kenji said, Akira pulling out her Monopad to check.

"Hrm… not that I remember. Why would Monokuma not tell us about the fourth floor? And how did he hide that?" Akira pondered as Kenji got up from the floor, rubbing his wrists.

"Well, whatever he's got to hide, we'll find out soon enough. Anyway, I've gotta get changed. Do you mind?" Kenji asked.

"Right, seeya." Akira said, leaving Kenji's room and seeing Yukiji sat against the wall outside, eyes shut and snoring softly. Akira smiled and shook his shoulder. "Wake up, Yukiji." she said, Yukiji slowly lifting his head.

"Huh? Oh, sorry. Must've dozed off… is Kenji uncuffed?" Yukiji asked.

"Yep. Come on, let's get to breakfast. I'm gonna need something or I'll probably pass out in the `fourth floor." Akira said as Yukiji got up, the two heading for the dining hall.

Breakfast had been a silent affair, spent with the students simply eating. The only thing Akira noticed was Shiro's absence, which didn't surprise her when she could still see dried blood in the floor's grout from the night before. As forks hit empty plates, Akira cleared her throat. "Alright, everyone. Gather up and we'll head for the fourth floor."

"S-should we?" Setsuki asked, standing up from her chair and walking over to a more reasonable speaking distance. "It might be a trap. Didn't Monokuma trap us before the last time he lead us somewhere?"

"He told us he would blow up the theater in if we didn't have half of us in it, Setsuki. We should probably head up." Akira said.

"Right. Besides, there is the potential for more information about this University or Monokuma's grand design." Airi said in agreement.

"Right. Much as I hate to do it, we'd be better off doing as Monokuma tells us for now and hope we can find a way to take him down when he isn't expecting it. So, let's get to it." Akira said.

The other students shuffled into a small group led by Akira. They walked up the staircase, heading straight to the third floor. They looked around the floor, trying to find the fourth floor entrance. Kenji went straight for the wall by the janitor's closet. He looked and saw the small holes where Emi had drilled in bolts. It may have only been a week or two, but it felt like forever.

"Hrm… what if…" Kenji thought aloud, trying to find some way to open the wall. He felt his fingers around the wall, finding a space between the frame and the door. "Guys! I found it!" Kenji said excitedly. The rest of the students ran over as Kenji slid his fingers in and pulled, the wall sliding open to reveal Monokuma standing on a staircase.

"Welcome to Corneria!" Monokuma exclaimed, startling Kenji. The remaining students

"Hey! What are you doing here?!" Kenji shouted back.

"Oh, don't mind me! I'm just the NPC roadblock until you actually bother to finish your quest!" Monokuma explained.

"What do you mean? We're all gathered together to come to the fourth floor, right?" Akira said, Monokuma making a buzzing sound with his mouth.

"EEEEHHHHH! WRONG! You're missing one party member! The white mage is mysteriously absent!" Monokuma said.

"White… mage?" Yukiji asked, scratching his head.

"...Ah, right. We forgot Shiro." Akira answered, Monokuma clapping his hands.

"Da da da daaaa da da da DA DAAAAAAA! You got it, since we're clearly speaking Japanese here! Your white mage is in fact Shiro." Monokuma explained. "I won't move from this spot until you bring Shiro with you. And don't bother trying to make this a boss fight. Without a healer, you're all pretty much gonna die to Meteor!"

"I'll go get him. You guys wait here." Akira said, walking off. She went back down the stairs, took a deep breath and knocked on Shiro's door. After a moment… there was silence. She knocked again, but this time a bit harder than before. "Shiro! It's Akira. Open up! I need to ask you something!" She said, cupping her hands over her mouth and trying to shout through the oak door.

The door cracked open slightly, revealing a reflection of Shiro's glasses. "What?" He asked, with a cold, uncaring tone. Akira's face was determined, but cautious.

"Monokuma's telling us we need you to join if we want to investigate the fourth floor." Akira said sternly, but Shiro scowled.

"Oh. Really?" He asked, gaze unwavering from hers as Akira softly pressed her hand on the door to see if he would open it more. It didn't budge, Shiro must be leaning against it. "And you're sure that Taisei and his friends didn't ask you to come kill me?"

Akira shook her head. "I… I don't kill people. And even then… If I killed you, then they would be forced to kill me anyway. I might like them, but not enough to think they wouldn't vote for me." Akira continued, Shiro went over and sat back down on his bed, pulling out a book he was reading before.

"Well tell them I'm not going, deal with it." Shiro muttered, Akira giving a deep sigh as she went up to him, glaring.

"Why do you have to make everything a fight? Do you get a rise out of pissing people off?" Akira asked sternly, hands on her shoulders. Shiro took off his glasses, revealing a massive black eye.

"I'm not going to entertain the idea that we're supposed to grow distrustful of each other. I thought that never forming that initial trust would make things easier for me." Shiro said, cleaning his glasses with the cloth of his jacket. "I was wrong, and now I'm effectively dead to the group. You saw how Tauseu reacted to me, he's the heart of the group, so I can guarantee half of them feel the same way."

"Well… You killed someone. What do you want them to do, forgive you? I think you're pretty far beyond that point." Akira asked. Shiro putting his glasses on and looking at her.

"I made my bed, and I might as well lie in it. If you're all so obsessed with me becoming a villain, I might as well be one." Shiro surmised, Akira walking over to sit beside him in bed.

"Do you want to know why I killed Akami?" Shiro asked, Akira looked at him, her hands behind her to hold her weight as she leaned back on his bed. "It was because he was the easiest to kill. I overheard something you said, and thought it was my way out." He said, clearly trying to set her off.

"That's not the why I would want to know. I wanted to know why you even tried to kill Akami." Akira said, not rising to his bait.

"Did you ever ask yourself... What could have caused this whole scenario in the first place? How did someone have enough resources to take over a school, mass-produce robots, make a radioactive barrier, execute people in these massive scenes, and host a killing game in an empty college?" Shiro asked, looking up at her with a grim expression.

"A radioactive barrier? What?" Akira responded, taken aback.

"Okamoto said something about it to herself the other day, she's been doing this unusual thing, where she talks to Takahashi despite him being dead." Shiro replied.

"Kenji told me about a barrier before, but he didn't say anything about radiation. I… have not seen Hana do that. Are you sure?" Akira asked, clearly confused.

"When you aren't talking, you should be listening. That's something my father always told me when I was trying to make it into office despite my age. I've heard Okamoto talking to herself more and more recently. Maybe she'll tell you if you ask her about it." Shiro explained.

"Right… anyway, you want to know how this happened? Well, so do we and the answers might be on the fourth floor." Akira responded.

"I… I wanted to kill Akami because I thought that this Killing Game was the symptom of a larger movement. I wanted to use my influence to try and get the law enforcement to help me find who's funding this Killing Game. I thought I would have a better chance to get help than the rest of you, and… I thought that if this class was sacrificed to allow my escape… I could try and shut down whoever is causing suffering to students, and maybe try and rescue others from different Killing Games, if any were to be found." Shiro finally elaborated.

"A larger movement?" Akira said.

"Yes. something is pulling the strings. And I think they're motivated by something besides the typical greed or hate. Pervasively hollow. The glove in which evil slips its hand."

"What would be worse than hate?" Akira asked.

"Apathy. It's like watching someone drown, and doing nothing but watch, because it doesn't matter to you, you don't care. From the words Monokuma slips through his exterior, it feels like whoever is doing this wants us to throw away the value of friendship. The value of love, the value wanting your life to amount to anything. It's not just despair, it's empty. And from the amount of influence he appears to have… This is a movement, a symptom of a disease born in the hearts of people our age when we realize being an adult is more than just 'be a good person.' I felt the urge to stop it… And I chose Akami as my key."

"Yet, I feel like we all fell a little bit for what they wanted. You were very upset at the class trial." Akira said, while mostly listening for now to let him get things off his chest.

"I was a fool. And my punishment for it is that I'll die just like everyone else, not achieving a single thing for my desperation, my attempts at relevancy, my wish for vindication. " Shiro said, lacing his fingers together as he took a deep breath to calm himself.

"Something happened out there to cause this. Something out there is hurting people, and I'm sitting here, doing nothing but feel sorry for myself, and committing petty acts just so I feel alive. It's a wretched existence." Shiro said, hands trembling somewhat from frustration. "I want to get out to make sure my sister's safe."

"You have a sister?" Akira said, blinking in surprise.

"Her name is Saya, and she's my younger. We share a lot of things in common, but she has the heart to handle situations such as this. If this is the chaos we're living in, I don't want Saya experiencing anything like this. I don't want her virtue corrupted by this plague of apathy." he explained, grabbing the edge of his glasses.

"Where'd all this come from?" Akira asked, putting a hand on his shoulder

"I felt like I might as well say it, since I'm dead to most of you anyway." he said venomously.

"Look.. Just help us get out of here. It's your best shot, since if you murdered again, we would probably all immediately figure it's your fault. I'll try and get Kenji to leave you alone. Just don't antagonize him." Akira offered.

"No promises. But I do want to know what Monokuma intended to hide from us until at least 3 murders." Shiro said, Akira sighing but accepting that. If they got to see the fourth floor, she would take what she got.

"Then let's get going." Akira said, heading out of Shiro's room. The two left for the third floor, meeting back with the other students. Kenji and Shiro exchanged glares before turning their eyes away from each other. "Alright, Monokuma. Our party's assembled. What now?"

"Promise me one thing. You will NOT go from that floor until you've found everything I want you to see. Got it? No half assed peek around and back to hanging out at the pool. You need to see all of this." Monokuma warned.

"So, I guess we're ready, huh?" Setsuki asked everyone else, adjusting her beanie. Everyone nodded as Monokuma vanished from the stairs, Akira taking the lead as they climbed.


	36. Chapter 4: Daily Life 2

Chapter 4: Persona Non Grata (Daily Life 2)

The sight that befell the remaining students of the college stunned them. It was nothing like any of the other rooms in the entire campus. The entire hallway was in disarray, bullet holes covered the walls, white drywalling turning the floors white with powder to match the bullet holes underneath them. "Oh my god… what happened in here?" Kenji asked, slowly patrolling the halls and looking around a corner. He had to cover his mouth to fight a gasp, as the walls around the corner were also covered in bullet holes… but another thing.

Blood. There was dried blood caking the floor, each one with a chalk outline where the body it came from originally lied. Kenji's nose flared to try and choke off the smell of copper and rot. Setsuki turned pale as Yukiji, who somehow got even paler than he usually was. Shiro tucked his hands in his pockets and looked away in disgust.

"This… was a massacre. Or.. very convincing decorations." Airi observed, she covered a thumb and index finger over her lips to fight her urge to gag. Akira tried to count how many chalk outlines there were strewn on the floor, and leaning against the walls, before losing count. This hallway alone had at least 70 outlines, with enough dried blood to spare between them.

"Holy fuck, dude…" Yukata muttered out as he suddenly began to turn around to leave. His shoulder was grabbed by the firm grip of Haru.

"Man, they told us we can't leave. We have to investigate…" He said, giving his shoulder a squeeze. "Just push through it, dude." Haru said, nudging Yukata to move him forward. Yukata stumbled, but quickly caught himself as he walked to the first door her saw on the hallway. Wrapping some of his jacket on his hand to not get it dirty, and opening the door.

'Happy Homecoming, Students of Future's Crest University!' read the banner as Yukata stepped into the room. The room had rows of desks topped with unpowered computer monitors, more students following behind Yukata and looking over the monitors. Looking under the desks, the students found no towers connected to the monitors, save for one toward the back. "Hrm… I don't like the look of this." Airi said, moving slowly to the remaining computer.

"What's wrong, Ai-Spy?" Setsuki asked as she walked up behind Airi. Airi just rolled her eyes and muttered to herself as she sat down in the old chair beside the desk.

"That's only slightly better…" Airi grumbled as she pressed the power button, watching to see if the computer would even turn on. "The fact that there's only one working tower in what appears to be the University Computer lab is… worrying." Airi explained. The outdated logo of the operating system it ran on appeared, as the CRT monitor whirred to life.

"Ya think this thing gets porn?" Yukata asked, but Airi just looked back at him with an annoyed glare.

"Really...? Really? You're a sad man, Yukata." Airi said as the computer booted up, her gloved hands dancing across the keys to open a web browser and inspecting the router. "Anyway, this is a private network, it would mostly be accessing server files in the school." She said, opening the bookmarks tab to see which ones were listed.

"Sorry, I just… Wow the more I think about it, the more out of place that comment was." Yukata mused to himself as Haru slapped him upside the head.

"You asked to look up porn after realizing someone shot up the college like 5 minutes ago, dude."

"Don't judge me! I live in the moment!" Yukata exclaimed.

"Whatever helps you sleep at night." Haru replied, shaking his head.

"You wear a speedo!" Yukata shot back.

"That's not relevant!" Haru barked, Kiko joining and barking at Yukata

"If you both don't shut up, I will cut the cord and you will never internet again." Airi said, glaring at Haru and Yukata. The two quickly went quiet. "Good, now I don't have to hit you. Let's see if we can figure out anything about 'Future Crest University' while we're here." she continued, clicking open a bookmark. Her eyes darted back and forth along the page, taking in information while looking for keywords.

"Hm, let's see… It seems like this college is stationed in Shiga, outside of Kyoto. Founded in 1992 by a man named… Masato Inoue. It explains why we couldn't see Mt. Fuji in the skyline." Airi said.

"Anything about Masato Inoue?" Kenji asked, Airi looking for a section about the founder of the college.

"Masato Inoue… Was a entrepreneur who tried to make this university a trade school program, but failed… When a man known as Jin Kirigiri took over a place called Hope's Peak Academy, a government backed high school a few decades afterward, he apparently retooled his college to have a similar concept, recruiting the best of the best and helping them toward a degree."

"So… Whoever made this school was just ripping off Hope's Peak? That's lame." Yukata said, reading over her shoulder.

"No, I can see the purpose in having more than one school. Each region is operated by a smaller section of the government, so most of the students they enroll can take a bus, or live near their families... " Airi argued.

"Wouldn't a school like that just hemorrhage money?" Kenji asked, trying to slide past Haru to look at the screen as well

"It's a college, Kenji. Everything here would cost money and that would be more than enough to recuperate the taxpayer money keeping this thing open. 50,000 yen for a 3 year old text book, food three times the cost of what it should be? That's a college staple." Akira mentioned, adjusting her tie.

"I'm assuming mimicking the 'Ultimates' program from Hope's Peak would mostly be scholarships, and every other student would have to enroll with money. Because according to this, there was at least 3500 students as of this webpage's last update. To think they would all be Ultimates would be… pretty impossible, I think." Airi said, trying to find the webpage for any of the college staff.

"That many people good at that many things? Do you think that means there's an Ultimate Spider-Eater?" Yukiji asked.

"I highly doubt that. Let's see, Future's Crest staff included Masato Inoue, Akio Watanabe-"

"It's a common name, we're not related." Yukata interrupted.

"Duly noted. Tomoko Kirishima, Ryuji Sakamoto…. Hrm, as I expected." Airi said, nodding.

"What's up?" Setsuki asked.

"No listing of Junko Enoshima." Airi continued, gently crossing an arm over her chest as she turned to face the others.

"So… did we learn anything from looking at this?" Yukata asked, scratching his chin. "I feel like we're just talking in circles."

"We've learned plenty. Where we are, the owner of the university, and the very important fact that this is indeed a real location, and was converted from a college to a killing grounds. But the major question is… who could have? Was it one of the members of staff?" Airi asked.

"Wait, so if Junko wasn't the founder of the University, who was she?" Kenji asked, Airi looking up at the ceiling briefly.

"It's possible she was a student that Monokuma's controller had some sort of personal connection or attachment to. She stood behind him on the statue, with a proud look on her face. It might just be connotation, but I feel like it would make sense." Airi explained, turning back to the computer and looking though other pages, including the student listing.

"Anything on the current students?" Kenji asked, a hand on her shoulder, which she casually removed as she spoke.

"The whole section's been scrubbed. It's all broken image links and word purges. There probably isn't a original copy, since this seems to be the school's private server." Airi observed, Yukata humming to himself and clicking his tongue before he replied.

"How can ya tell?" He asked, Airi reaching up to point at the address bar.

"These aren't websites. They're local files with the same IP. We're accessing ourselves, albeit in different subsections." Airi answered.

"Most likely Monokuma doesn't want us accessing the outside world… It would make it harder to trace the location and let us send help." Shiro guessed.

"Yeah, but why wipe away the student records? He knew we were gonna find this place, why not let us learn more?" Setsuki asked.

"Controlling information is a very easy way to make us act the way someone wants us to. The less we know, the easier we are to manipulate." Shiro surmised, a hand behind his back as he adjusted his glasses. "Is there anything else you can ascertain from that computer, Kudo?" he asked, Airi combing through page after page.

"It's pretty outdated. I think this was more to establish where the school was, than give us any revelations about what's going on." Airi explained, but Akira walked up, kneeling down to the same head height as her.

"Do you think there might be any emails between members of the staff?" Akira asked, Airi getting a smile as she closed the tab, and opened the outdated mailing program.

"It's an idea worth entertaining. The staff profile page had their emails, but I wouldn't know any of their personal passwords, it would take a lot of time and research, unless I had my decrypting USB drive with me. One of the things that didn't come with me when I woke up here."

"Have you got one in your lab?" Setsuki wondered, Airi shaking her head.

"I highly doubt Monokuma's gonna let me have anything that could break through his security checks. I'm no master programmer, so to replicate it would be very difficult." she replied. "And without any chance of getting those emails, we've got everything we can out of this computer unless you guys have anything else you want to find."

"Well, if we're locked out of anything else, maybe we could try another room." Kenji said, leaving the computer lab. Airi shut off the computer as the rest of the group left, checking different rooms and mostly finding empty classrooms. Akira made a point of categorizing everything, having to be dragged out a few times as they came upon a door labeled 'Dean's Office'

"So.. I guess this is Masato's office?" Kenji said, turning the knob and peering inside. Inside was what Kenji expected out of a Dean's office; an oak desk, bookshelf full of books, a massive filing cabinet and a lot of dust. What stood out in the room was a black DVD projector sat on the desk, directed at a screen hanging from the wall. Of all the interesting places there was in the university, this was the least. "Huh… looks like any other office…"

"It's cleaner than any other room. No blood, or bullet holes… Just a lot of dirt and cobwebs." Akira said, looking over the books. "What the…" Akira said, dusting off the cover of the book she was holding. "Is this… a book about apocalypses?" She asked herself, pulling another book from the shelf and tucking the first under an arm.

' _End Times: How you and Your Family Can Prepare For the Fires of the Final Era'_

"Hey, are all these books about the apocalypse?" she asked, looking and seeing the same theme of books about the End Times, the Rapture, Robot Uprisings, extinction events, nuclear war, Kali Yuga, the list went on. "They're all about apocalypses…"

"Okay, so he's a nutbar. Got it." Haru said with a chuckle to try and make light of the subject. "Do you have to take a mental exam before you can open a college?" he asked with another chuckle. He got no response as everyone looked around the office, Yukiji crouching down behind the desk.

"Maybe there's something from him in these…" he said, slowly lifting up a cardboard box and setting it on the desk. Inside was two stacks of black, unmarked cases. Yukiji grabbed a case and opened it to find a disc inside. "Could somebody get the lights?"

"Do the discs have anything on them?" Kenji asked, walking over beside Yukiji. Each one was blank, but had a marker on them indicating numbers such as #141, #153, #292, and so on.

"They have numbers, but that's about it. I don't see any particular pattern to them. I thought it would be a math problem or something." Yukiji said, looking at the discs back and forth.

"Let's start with the lowest number we can find, I guess." Kenji said, sorting through the discs in the cases, starting with the lowest he could find, #51. He passed it to Yukiji to insert the disc into the tray of the projector as he went to turn off the lights. He hit the switch, and the video began to project onto the screen.

It was the Dean's office, albeit much cleaner than before. A woman with long curly blonde hair was sitting on the desk as she was writing on a clipboard. An older man with black hair to his shoulders sat a chair in front of the camera, then sat off screen as a rather tall, strong willed woman turned the chair backwards and sat on it. Her hair was vividly dyed, and had a wide grin on her face.

"June 19th, Student #51. # %# %#" The voice off to the side said in a clear, professional tone, though there was a loud scratching sound at the end.

"I..Is that Miho?" Kenji asked, noticing her hair was a different color, but she looked about the same otherwise. Akira walked up closer to the projector screen.

"Sup, college guy!" Miho said with a big grin on her face and a thumbs up, showing her signature elbow pad.

"I believe you've enrolled in our special Ultimates program… What do you believe you could bring to our college that no other person possibly could?" The man asked, the woman with the clipboard slowly climbed off the desk, sitting down on the other side of the room to write down notes.

"I suplex people! I'm not sure how that relates to college, but my brother in law told me this is the place to go when you're awesome. And I am! Have you seen me on TV?" Miho replied, patting her padded elbow.

"I'm not really a fan of such shows, but I believe I've seen you in commercials." the man responded. The next few questions were not that interesting, but there was one that caught everyone's interest.

"In case of a potential disaster, would you be alright if you chose to live in the school until things settled?" he asked.

"Yeah. I mean, I'd be living in the school even if there wasn't a disaster, right?" Miho said.

"Very good. Thank you, Ms. # # # # " the man said, the DVD coming to a stop.

"So, these discs… I think they're our interviews with the Dean." Akira said, reaching into to the box to grab a case. She pulled out #311, switching out Miho's disc for the next one. Sitting in the chair was a girl with long, curly white hair and blue eyes. She was looking nervously at the man in front of her, pressing the tips of her index fingers together, she set her hands in her lap and offered a sheepish smile.

"June 23rd. Student #311 %#%^$^*$ " The same man as before had announced, the girl gently nodding her head as she looked around the room, avoiding eye contact at first.

"Oh, yes! Hello." She said, cheeks slightly flushed as she finally looked at him. "That's me." She said, a finger gently curling a silver lock of hair as he spoke.

"You have enrolled in our Ultimates program without a transfer from one of our high schools, so What do you consider your ultimate skill?" He asked, the girl's face lit up as she spoke.

"Oh! Uhm.. I'm actually a theater manager. Like… the stage theater, not the movie kind. I help put on plays and coach the actors. I… I was pretty good at it, at least my teachers thought so. And.. Bram Stoker was a theater manager too! I thought that was pretty cool, since I was a big fan…" She said, before realizing she was rambling and covering her mouth with a hand to stop herself from cutting off his next question.

"Wakako?" Yukiji spoke up, the other students taking a closer look. She looked exactly like her, so there was no doubt. The only thing different was that she was dressed in more casual clothes, a long button down jacket that ended in a skirt over her leggings.

"She seems...quirkier than I remembered. It's kinda refreshing, after all that happened a while back." Akira admitted, rubbing the back of her head. Yukiji quickly shushed Akira, who had been speaking over the interview.

"-being a fan of Bram Stoker." the man said.

"O-oh! Yes!" She said, closing her eyes and giving a small, sheepish smile. "He inspired me to become a lover of the arts! Well... posthumously, of course. I want to make my own grand opus to one day surpass his vision." she explained, catching her mouth once again. "Oh! I'm so sorry! I keep cutting you off! P-please, continue!" she said, slightly muffled by her hand. The man chuckled.

"There's no need. This interview is about you, after all." he said, Wakako's cheeks burning as she let out a skittish laugh.

"Ohohoho… thank you, sir. B-but you're probably busy with other interviews, I don't want to take up too much time." Wakako said, twisting a lock of hair tightly around her finger.

"She's so shy, it's kind of weird to see… Like a tiger playing poker." Setsuki said in a hushed tone. Yukiji looked away from the projector.

"S-she was a good person… and she probably still was when I was friends with her! What caused her to change when the Killing Game started!?" he said, fighting some of his tears. Akira patted Yukiji on the back, Yukiji leaning into her shoulder.

"We were all good people… Most of us would have been friends if we weren't forced to persecute each other." Akra said comfortingly.

"-chose to live in this school until things settled?" the Dean asked.

"Oh, w-well, I guess so… Honestly, I… I think I wouldn't mind more time to myself writing. Maybe I can entertain the other students in the school with all my play ideas!" she said with an excited grin.

"Well, I hope to see one soon. Hopefully, we'll accept an Ultimate Stage Actor who can bring your plays to life" the Dean said, Wakako's eyes lighting up.

"Oh! Oh! Is there an Ultimate Stage Actor here?" she asked, bouncing in her chair with excitement. The DVD stopped around there, Kenji rooting around for another DVD to put in. The students watched several interviews from each student; Akami's, Reiko's, Haru's, Hana's, Setsuki's, Bam's…

"Alright, #222…" Kenji said, pulling out another DVD and switching out Bam's disc. On the video was Kenji, looking the same as he ever did. The only difference was that his hair was much shorter and messier. Instead of the cleaner side part he had, he had a bad case of bedhead, with a tall strand sticking out from the top.

"Oh god, I had Akira's stupid hair attentena, I forgot to comb my hair that day!" Kenji said with an embarrassed chuckle.

"Excuse me?" Akira said with an annoyed glare, Kenji moving away from her and hiding behind Haru. "Yeah, that's what I thought!"

"June 22nd, Student #222 *%*%*%*%**%. That's a lucky number if you believe in it." the Dean said, Kenji laughing.

"Nah, I don't really think numbers are lucky, I don't think I've ever gotten lucky in my life." Kenji said on the video with an awkward chuckle. The Kenji in the roo just shook his head. "God, I was such a dork."

"Was?" Yukata joked, getting lightly punched in the shoulder by Kenji.

"Shut up." Kenji said, laughing before turning back to the interview. The interview went by with little issue, coming up on the last question.

"Well, if things got that bad, I'd probably stay and do everything I can to help. It's my duty as a kind person to help someone whenever I can!" the video's Kenji said, the Kenji in the room feeling a slight warmth in his chest.

"I guess some things never change…" Kenji said, reaching for the next case in the box. He put the disc in for #201. His face turned white at the sight of a blue-eyed girl in a smock with her blond hair tied into a bun with a few loose strands on one side, smiling a friendly smile to the Dean.

"June 21st, Student #201. # # # # #" the Dean read off.

"Emi…" Kenji said in a hushed gasp, reaching for his shirt pocket.

"You were a transfer student from Hope's Peak Academy, correct?" the Dean asked.

"Mhm. I was the Ultimate Carpenter. Trained by the best to make the most stuff. Pretty cool, huh? The family motto is 'You need it? We'll make it!'" Emi exclaimed, pulling out a small pocket drill and making it whirr.

"I don't recall letting students bring workshop equipment into the school, despite you just using it to punctuate your sentences." the Dean said.

"Y-you didn't see that." She stammered, hiding the drill behind her back.

"...Right. What do you believe you can bring to this university as the Ultimate Carpenter?" the Dean asked.

"Like I said, you need it? I make it! I fixed up some of the old, broken furniture back at Hope's Peak. It's why the Headmaster put in the recommendation, especially after I set up a video game shelf that retracted back into the wall when no one was looking." Emi said.

"Hm, how impressive…" the Dean said. Kenji gripped at the photograph in his pocket, shutting his eyes as he felt hot tears form in the corner of his eyes. He felt his hands shake and his breath become hitched. He then felt something rub up against his pant leg. He opened his eyes and looked down to see Kiko looking up at him.

Kenji slowly bent down to pet Kiko, trying to force a smile. "I-I'm fine, Kiko…" he choked out.

"Just let it out, Kenji. If you want, we can stop the DVD." Haru said, patting Kenji on the back.

"N-no… keep it playing. It's not going to get any easier if I run away from it." Kenji said, watching the rest of the interview.

"Ehehehe, well… I did it because I wanted to see what was in the teacher's lounge. Yeah, I could've asked, but where's the fun in that? Asking wouldn't let me unhinge a door." Emi said, laughing.

"I'm sure Headmaster Naegi must've been displeased to see that." the Dean said with a hearty chuckle.

"Heh! Yeah, he was pissed. Everyone was surprised because he's usually so mellow" Emi said.

"In case of a potential disaster, would you be alright if you chose to live in the school until things settled?" the Dean asked.

"Nah. I'd probably build you a bunker, actually!" Emi offered, the Dean waving a hand across the screen.

"That won't be necessary, but thank you." the Dean said, the disc coming to a stop. They kept watching DVDs, getting through Yukiji's before coming up on Akira's. Akira had shorter hair, but looked about the same.

"June 19h, Student #78 ## ######" the Dean began. "Now if I recall correctly, you're actually a transfer from a school for Juvenile Delinquents."

"Yeah, I was in Juvie for a few years after I smashed a car into a school. I was training to become a police officer." Akira said.

"Ah, attempting to correct the mistakes from when you were young?" the Dean asked.

"Exactly. I'm a cadet right now, but I'll get to do more than paperwork in a year or two!" Akira said excitedly.

"Well, you came to the right place. Students of Future's Crest often become leaders in their field before graduation. I believe that within a year, you'll be Commissioner." the Dean said half-jokingly. The interview went on as the others had, finally coming up on Akira's answer to the disaster question.

"Of course. In times of crisis, somebody needs to maintain order." Akira said, reaching for her cap to tip it only to notice it wasn't there.

"Heh… guess Miho was right about me being a dork… hindsight's 20/20." Akira said as the DVD stopped. After Shiro's DVD came a DVD of someone no one recognized.

"June 21st, Student #205 #$ #$*^&^% Thanks for showing up on time." the Dean said to the student in front of him. He had silver hair framing his face in tangles, and narrow green eyes, he was wearing a black sweatshirt and a white and red baseball cap. He also had bags under his eyes and a single earring from his left ear. Kenji rubbed his chin, feeling there was something familiar about the person being interviewed.

"No problem. I was worried I was gonna be late, but I guess things work out, don't they?" the young man said.

"And congratulations on winning our University Lucky Draw. We only have one every year, so the title of Ultimate Lucky Student is very prestigious." the Dean said, Kenji's eyes widening as he remembered something.

"Wait… I've seen him!" Kenji said, reaching into his pocket and pulling out the photo of him and Emi. He pointed to Akira in the background, chasing after a someone with the same hat. "He's pretty far away, so I couldn't notice these details, but… I think this is that baseball hat guy we saw..." he said, Akira grabbing the photo and squinting her eyes.

"Hrm… that's weird, he wasn't in the school when the Killing Game started. How does he have a interview DVD like the rest of us?" Akira asked.

"He was referred to as the Ultimate Lucky Student, so it's likely that Kudo killed him and replaced him before the Killing Game began." Shiro said, getting glared at by his classmates. "Ah, of course. Because I said it, no one wants to consider the possibility." he said, pushing up his glasses.

"Of course not, because Airi's not a killer like you." Kenji spat out.

"I'll give him this contention, Kenji… I haven't seen me on a single one of these DVD's so far, and this kid.. Whoever he is. He isn't here, I don't know if I killed him, but… something had to have happened to him." Airi replied.

"I don't believe in luck, but if you guys think that being lucky is important? Guess it might be." The kid on the video spoke, his voice was a bit reedy and soft sounding, but his tone was easygoing and a bit pointed. Then came the disaster question.

"We'll have to see, won't we? I don't see a problem with it." He said with a smile. The DVD stopped and they had two left. There was Yukata's, which played out like the others, though Yukata's hair was somehow even spikier and a bright green.

Finally there was Rio's DVD, the remaining students looking grimly at the disc. It had been two weeks since they had found Rio's body lying in a pool of blood and water, head smashed in. But the memory was still vivid to them as when it all began. When Emi, in an effort to weed out Monokuma's controller, set the trap that killed Rio. When the seed of despair had been planted and soon others would follow in the cycle of murder and execution; Bam, Wakako, Miho, Akami and Reiko.

"M-maybe we shouldn't watch this one…" Setsuki said, face white as a sheet.

"I feel like we have to." Akira said, putting the DVD into the projector and starting it up.

'June 24, Student #415 %&%&%&%%%." the Dean read off for the last time.

"Why are the names all bleeped out?" Setsuki asked.

"Perhaps it's a matter of privacy. Masato probably wanted to make sure your information wasn't leaked, they did ask about our addresses and personal lives." Airi surmised. The one on the screen was indeed Rio, leather jacket, red scarf, and confident smile. Setsuki covered her eyes with her beanie, shaking slightly.

"Yeah, sapphires as big as your head. It was an incredible find and I even kept one of them as a little souvenir." Rio said, pulling a sapphire necklace out from under his scarf. "I like having keepsakes from my bigger adventures like this. Badges of honor, ya know?" he said with a smile. Kenji let out a heavy sigh.

"From all these interviews… Everyone seems like they're great to have as friends. I just… wish I knew why I forgot that entire year." he said, looking back at the photo. Akira put a hand on his shoulder.

"We all do, but we have to focus on getting out of here. When we get out, when this place is safe… maybe we'll come back here and find what we lost." Akira said with a smile, though she was glancing at Airi, who looked shocked.

"So… I really didn't enroll here. What am I doing here then? Did someone tell me to come here… Or did I force my way in?" she asked, about to place her index finger at the corner of her mouth, but her body stiffened up. Shiro caught this motion from the corner of his eye, adjusting his gloves before speaking.

"I'm not going to claim you as a murderer, given everyone's unwillingness to entertain the idea… But an infiltrator is technically your occupation. You could be complicit with Monokuma in order to monitor us." Shiro accused, Airi looking over at him with a frustrated look on her face.

"Why would I be wondering what happened to me out loud, then?" She asked him, but it seemed Shiro already calculated his response.

"To make it seem like we're on the same team of course. Interrogators will share a few minor secrets to make their targets ignore a much larger one. For example, the first class trial we attended, you never opened your door during the monitored hours. But there was the possibility that you never went in your room during the lockdown, and instead monitored things to see if someone would commit a murder that night." Shiro explained, adjusting his tie. "And lucky for you, Emi pulled it off, so you waited for the lockdown to end, and went back to bed." Shiro added, glancing at Kenji for a second, but ignoring him.

"That's oddly presumptuous of you." Airi said with a barbed tone, but Shiro just casually pointed his finger at her.

"And, for the last three murders, you always seem to be absentee, or barely involved. Like you know where the murders will happen, and intentionally avoid them." Shiro continued, but Airi just sighed. "If you aren't a liar, we need to see some proof, it's that simple."

"I lied about my title because I didn't know who any of you were. I can't just give out my identity like that. I've been trained to pretty much make up names, occupations, and my life story on the spot so I don't have anything they can trace me with. I've been honest with you ever since the second trial." Airi said, Shiro scoffing slightly at that.

"Curious though that you had known of the Ultimate Lucky Student title. How could you have known that title unless you met the person who had it?" Shiro continued to try and cross examine Airi's statements, as Kenji and Yukiji decided to avoid him by searching through some filing cabinets they found.

"It may sound flimsy, but I know I've heard that somewhere before. Not here, but… somewhere in my past. Someone else had the Ultimate Lucky Student title, they said the student is picked once a year, per school. It was a gamble to have that as my fake title, that's why I avoided using it on our first day here until I was sure none of you had it. Once I had everyone's talents, I switched to being the Ultimate Lucky Student. It requires the least amount of information to be one so I wouldn't look ill-fitting for it." Airi explained.

"Sounds like you had all of this figured out for a while, Kudo." Shiro said, pushing up his glasses.

"I was never around any of the murders because I'm cautious and tend to be by myself unless I need to speak to someone. I'm not here for Monokuma to play with as part of his stupid games. If there's a motive, I stay away from it to be safe." Airi said.

"Except for the Monokuma Theater." Shiro pointed out.

"Well, he said the building would explode. I didn't want that to be my fault, so I stayed." Airi countered, Shiro just giving a brief chuckle.

"But it did give you something you could against the rest of us later on." he said, Airi glaring at him.

"You mean like how you can't tie your shoes?" Kenji said suddenly.

"I wasn't speaking to you, Taisei, stay out of it." Shiro shot back, pointedly.

"Whatever, murderer." Kenji said, Shiro taking a deep breath, clenching his fist and turning back to Airi.

"Despite what some people think, I'm not always trying to get a rise out of you. I feel like I have the right to be suspicious of you, now that we know you weren't originally of this school, and that your presence in this killing game seems to be illogical." Shiro said.

"And yet everything I have done has proven to be to the benefit of the group while you have been known to withhold information, antagonize your classmates and even stoop low enough to kill someone who did nothing wrong to you. I may be suspicious, but at least I have people who choose to trust me out of good faith, something you will never have." Airi shot back, but their debate was interrupted by the sound of coughing.

"Yukiji, you okay!?" Haru said, running over to his companion as he began to cough louder, Kenji and Yukiji were inspecting the desk, when suddenly what appeared to be a fog began to spray from a nearby outlet.

"We were looking at this laptop, and now everything's getting woozy…" Yukiji said, his head bobbing as he spoke.

"...We're being gassed! Cover your mouths, we need to form a single file line to the exit!" Akira exclaimed, running to grab Yukiji and pull him off the floor. Akira tucked her mouth into her shirt collar and ran for the door to open it, only to find it locked. "It's locked! Haru, help me knock this thing down!" She yelled, Haru shrugging.

"Guess I'm the 'knock down the door' guy, now! Here it goes!" Haru said, charging the door with a shoulder, only to let out a cry of pain instead as he hit solid oak. "Gh! I think I just broke my shoulder!" He cried out, wincing in pain as Akira tried to break the doorknob by giving it a few hard kicks, before feeling her body grow weak and send her falling back onto her butt.

"D-damn it… Why is he gassing the room?" Akira asked as she felt herself getting tired. She looked around the room, seeing other students had passed out already while others coughed and wheezed. The room became thick with gas, clouding Akira's vision. Through the fog, Akira could see that Setsuki, Hana and Yukata were on the floor already. Kenji's shadow seemed to leap toward Shiro's, Kenji passing out before the two came to blows. Haru soon fell, nursing his shoulder the entire time. Akira soon felt her vision fade as Airi and Shiro were struggling to stay standing.

Everything in the room had turned to black and when Akira woke up, she would not be on the fourth floor. She would not be on any floor...


	37. Chapter 4: Daily Life 3

Chapter 4: Persona Non Grata (Daily Life 3)

Akira felt the cold floor against her cheek as her vision finally began to settle enough for her to think about opening her eyes. She didn't have the energy to shoot back up, so she sat on the floor as she tried to see what her surroundings were. She was alone, the concrete on the floor was barely lit enough to see that it was covered in cracks. The walls were grey like the floor, and the only light was constantly flickering from the shadow of a small ventilation fan spinning.

The room was cold, and dry, breathing in too hard made her cough, as she slowly stood back onto her feet to look at the room in proper. There was a single bed, a two inch thick mattress covered with a green sheet and a single pillow mounted to a metal frame and secured to the wall using a chain and loop fasteners. There was a desk with a small light on it, and a single glass of water. Around the corner was a bathroom that was literally just a toilet and a sink.

There was a small rucksack sitting on the floor, that Akira quickly picked up to inspect it. Inside was a pair of handcuffs, a small key, a taser with about 3 cartridges of ammunition, and strangely, a keychain with a Monokuma head on it. She tossed the Monokuma keychain aside and slowly reached for the glass of water. She sniffed at the water, wary of drinking this after they had been gassed. Smelling nothing odd, Akira took a few sips before drinking the whole glass. Thankfully, it got the taste of chemical out of her mouth.

She headed for the door out of the room, opening it and seeing a blue hallway with similar doors to the one she had for her room. As she looked, one of the other doors opened, Airi stepping out of the room next to her. "Akira? You okay?" Airi asked, Akira nodding and rubbing her temple.

"Yeah, I just… I'm kind of confused." Akira replied

"I think opening that laptop caused Monokuma to activate his 'motive' for us. From the smell, Halothane was pumped into the room, and we got moved here." Airi said, leaning against the wall in thought.

"Hallo-wha?" Akira asked.

"It's a sleeping gas made in mass production. It's dangerous in super high quantities, but he used it just to knock us out." Airi explained as the other two doors in the hall opened. Hana stepped out of the door on the far left.

"Huh? Where am I? What's- Setsuki?" Hana said, spotting the Ultimate Extreme Sports Star from the far right.

"Hana?" Setsuki asked in response. Without a second, the two rushed over and hugged each other. "Holy crap, you're not dead! This is so hype!"

"I know! I didn't dead!" Hana said excitedly, tightening her grip on Setsuki

"...I think you meant 'die.'" Airi pointed out.

"...Airi! You're not dead!" Hana shouted, running over to hug her, Airi accepted the hug, begrudgingly, looking away and feeling awkward about it.

"It seems like we're fine. Though, I'm not sure about everyone else. Maybe the girls and the boys have been separated?" Akira asked as Setsuki wrapped her arms around the Ultimate Police Cadet. "Ack! Setsuki, it's good to see you too!"

"Possibly. So, we find the boys and then we find out where we are." Airi said, attempting to peel Hana off of her and break her iron tight hug.

"Get hug-dunked, Airi!" Hana exclaimed, getting a sigh out of the spy.

"That's not a thing. Stop trying to make it a thing." Airi said. "We have to go find the boys, now hurry up."

Airi finally pried Hana off and started running out of the hall. Akira dragged Setsuki along as she followed Airi. The girls made their way out of the hallway and into an empty room. Sat against the wall was four keys, placed in a small box lined with velvet.. "Hrm… interesting." Airi said as she walked up to the keys, looking at each one carefully.

"What is it, Airi?" Akira asked.

"The bow of each key… they're shaped like playing card suits." Airi said, pointing to one of the keys. Akira noticed that bow had a heart shape, next to a diamond-shaped key to the right and a spade-shaped key to the left. Along with those was a club-shaped key, completing the set.

"So, ya like the gimmick?" Monokuma asked leaning over Airi's shoulder. Akira and Setsuki both shrieked from surprise, but Airi just looked at him with wide eyes. "Those are keys to certain rooms in the building! Sharing is caring, of course. There's only one of each type! If ya lose it in a grate? Well that sucks, you're not getting it back." he warned.

"You! Where the hell are our friends!" Hana shouted, pointing an accusing finger at the black-and-white bear.

"Not here yet. Kenji and Yukata are trying to fix Haru's shoulder. Yukiji's watching in the corner of the room like a scared kitten, and who cares what Shiro's doing!?" Monokuma answered. Akira was relieved to hear no one was hurt, but now there was the question of where 'here' was.

"And where are we, exactly?" Akira asked.

"Ah-ah-ah! We gotta wait until the boys show up! There's nothing worse for a reader than when characters keep regurgitating exposition because all the characters weren't in a scene." Monokuma taunted. "And I don't like repeating myself, so boo." He teased, sticking out his tongue as the door from the other side of the room swung open.

Shiro, still covered in bruises from being attacked the day before entered the room, adjusting his tie. "So was knocking us out and dragging us to this dour concrete facility part of the motive?" Shiro said.

"Damn it! I said to wait! Stop trying to make the plot nonsense, we've had enough trouble making sense already!" Monokuma yelled, but Shiro looked unamused. "Next we'll have talking penguins, robots who have babies and a helicopter who can turn into a cat." He complained.

"That's not even a reference to anything, I think." Setsuki complained as Kenji, Haru and Yukata entered just after. Haru sporting a sling over the arm he hurt trying to break the door down. Yukiji walked in behind them, rubbing his eyes.

"Alright we're here. What the hell are you planning, Monokuma!?" Kenji shouted across the room, Monokuma starting to giggle as he finally got to explain.

"So what you could guess from the Dean's office, Masato Inoue is one of those weirdo doomsday prepper types! He even commissioned a bunker to stay in, in case of nuclear war! You're still on the campus, just at his weird bunker. Welcome to your new home!" Monokuma announced, hopping onto the table to make himself look taller.

"You have got to be shitting me." Yukata complained as Haru went over to lean against a wall. "We have to stay in this dump!?" He shouted, his voice echoing off the walls.

"Mhm! That is, until the next class trial. You will not be allowed to leave this building unless we do a class trial! Or, if you fulfill the motive! Then you guys can leave without a class trial. Neato, huh?" Monokuma asked, Shiro looking unamused as ever.

"And this is your idea of getting another murder in short notice? What's the motive?" Shiro asked, brow furrowed.

"Well… The motive is this." Monokuma announced, pulling out a remote and hitting a button, a banner unfurling on the wall stating 'KILL SHIRO' in crudely painted fashion. "If Shiro is the next murder, a class trial won't be held! Da da da daaaa! You'll all get off scot free!" He followed, but Shiro felt his eyes shoot wide as an anger filled him.

'W-WHAT!?" He shouted in confusion.

"Ya heard me. The result of the last class trial ticked me off. I didn't feel like changing it, so now you're a loose end. And the only way to deal with loose ends is to cut them!" Monokuma shot back, but Shiro was livid, his fists clenched hard and shaking.

"This is ridiculous! Is this really the motive!?" Shiro exclaimed.

"Yup! In fact, if you would open up your Monopads, there's been a change to the regulations!" Monokuma instructed. Akira pulled out her Monopad and opened it, clicking on the regulations.

 _Special Regulation: Shiro Kiruma Must Die!_

"So, who's it gonna be that does the job? Will it be Kenji, who has hated Shiro from the start? Akira, walking the fine line between justice and revenge? Airi, the cold-blooded spy looking to eliminate a potential threat? The Big Dog, Haru Yamada? Or… one of those other guys I can't think of right now." Monokuma said, waving a paw dismissively.

"You're running this killing game, it could kill you to remember everyone's name!" Setsuki complained, rubbing the back of her head.

"I mean, kill me? Nah. It'd probably kill one of you guys." Monokuma said.

"That's not what I meant." Setsuki said

"Enough banter! Shiro's right there and ready to get his head smashed in! How about it, folks?" Monokuma asked.

"No." Kenji said bluntly.

"Huuuh? No? Kenji, you were like… guy #1 I had in mind for this motive! Whaddya mean by no?" Monokuma said, growing testy.

"Look, I hate Shiro's guts more than anyone here. He's pretty much confirmed to be a fuckface. That doesn't mean I want to kill him, especially not when you want me to." Kenji said, Monokuma's eye twitching slightly.

"Well… I had expected that, honestly. But let's see how you feel about it a few days into this motive, hm?" Monokuma said.

"We'll see how I feel about it a year into the motive! See, if we don't kill Shiro, that stops the Killing Game, right?" Kenji asked, Monokuma standing perfectly still. Kenji grew a defiant smile as he spoke. "You fucked yourself, Monokuma! You made a motive no one would want to do!" Kenji said triumphantly.

"Yeh! This place smells like feet but I think I could get used to living here!" Hana shouted from the back.

"I've lived in worse… I've slept in a hovel in Bolivia during a 10 month monsoon." Airi observed.

"If it means we stop the Killing Game, then I'd rather live here." Akira said.

"B-b-but- What about your memories?! What about the mystery of Enoshima University?!" Monokuma objected.

"If we gotta kill someone to find out the answers, then maybe we're better off not knowing." Yukiji argued, Monokuma gritting his teeth.

"N-no! No! This is not how this is supposed to go!" Monokuma shouted, getting red in the face.

"Well, too bad, ya overgrown chew toy! We're staying here! Get ready to get bored, ya idjit!" Haru shouted, Kiko poking out of his coat pocket and barking in agreement.

"Yeah! We just gotta believe in our bonds and we'll make it through this!" Yukata said, turning to Kenji. "Right, bro?"

"Damn right, Yukata! Friendship and stuff!" Kenji said, the two fistbumping. The students cheered, an air of victory throughout the key room, Monokuma throwing a tantrum on the floor. "We finally beat you, huh Monokuma?"

"ARGH! I want my Killing Game! This isn't fair! You all cheated!" Monokuma wailed, pounding the floor.

"This calls for victory tacos! Yo, Monokuma! Which way is the kitchen?" Setsuki asked, Monokuma suddenly stopping his tantrum and lifting his head up. On his face was the biggest, most twisted smile they had ever seen on him, red eye glowing bright.

"Puhuhuhuhu~ The kitchen? There ain't no kitchen here! Kyaahhahahahah~" Monokuma said, cackling madly. The triumphant air faded instantly as everyone stared at the black-and-white bear, eyes widening slowly.

"Wh-what? No… no, that's bullshit, you're lying!" Kenji said, Monokuma stopping his laughter.

"Look into my eyes, can't you see they're open wide? Would I lie to you, Kenji?" Monokuma said, letting out another hearty laugh at Kenji's expense. "You see, I did a bit of renovation to this old bunker. In fact, if you look in your Monopads, I have a map for you." Monokuma said with a single unfurled claw. Kenji opened up his Monopad, seeing a crudely-drawn map of the bunker.

"Why does this look like it was drawn by a five-year-old?" Yukata asked as everyone looked over the map. Their faces littered a gold-colored room marked as "Key Swap" which was connected to two L-shaped halls, colored Green and Blue. In the Green Hall were the first four bedrooms that Kenji, Yukata, Haru and Yukiji had woken up in. On the far end was a room labeled "Equipment" with a Club symbol.

"Ah, I see. So that's what Monokuma meant." Airi said. "The rooms marked with card symbols. Those must be the keys we need for those rooms." she explained, looking a the hall doors marked with a Heart for the Blue Hall and club for the Green Hall. In the Blue Hall were another four bedrooms. Akira, Hana, Setsuki and Airi woke up in that Hall, which also had the most rooms; an Engine room with a Heart symbol, a Medical Room with a Spade symbol and a Library with a Diamond symbol.

"Wait, but there's only eight bedrooms." Setsuki pointed out.

"Well, yeah. I woke up on the floor in Room 3. Shiro was in the bed." Haru explained.

"Yeah? Well you're heavy!" Monokuma complained, but Haru clenched a fist and shouted back at him.

"And I'm injured! You inconsiderate jerkface!" Haru yelled. "Anyway, you probably did it to make it easier to kill Shiro!"

"Hm? ...Whatever do you mean?" Monokuma asked, feigning innocence.

"Well, if there's eight rooms and nine of us, we'd probably make Shiro sleep out in the halls-"

"I beg your pardon?!" Shiro said.

"Murderers don't get comfy beds, okay? Anyway, if Shiro slept out in the halls, it would leave him vulnerable! That's why there's only eight bedrooms for nine people." Haru finished.

"Hm… **no, that's wrong!"** Monokuma shouted, laughing. "Actually, there's several sections to the bunkers. We're just in one section.

"...So, what do we do about the rooms?" Yukiji asked.

"Well, I think we do have a room to keep Shiro in." Akira said, looking at the Monopad. At the far end of the Blue Hall, tagged with a Diamond symbol, was a room labeled 'Prison.' "He's gonna be locked in the prison in the Blue Hall. He'll be safe there and he won't try to kill any of us to protect himself." she explained.

"Why do I need to be locked up?! Need I remind you that Taisei was the one savagely attacking me last night? Lock him away for everyone's safety! He's deranged! Are you going to let him get away with assault!?" Shiro objected.

"No, but you've demonstrated that you're capable of murder and there are probably more people who will want to kill you than Kenji." Akira said. "Like it or not, but you're public enemy #1. Even Monokuma wants you dead. Putting you in jail will be for your own good."

"I'd be a sitting duck! You can't trust that no one will try to attack from my cell!" Shiro argued.

"Not if they don't have the key." Akira said, grabbing the Diamond Key from the box and putting it into her pocket. "I'm your facilitator. I'll be the one who can open and close your door. No one else is getting this key as long as we're here, period. Now come on, I'm putting you in for the night." she said, grabbing Shiro by the arm. She dragged him through the Blue Hall as Shiro complained about her grabbing his wrist too hard, or that dragging him wasn't necessary. She kept on walking, heading for the door on the far end of the Blue Hall, opening it up.

Inside was a rounded room with a sleeping bag on the floor, a sink, and a stone bench that wrapped around the outside of the round room to sit on. The door was heavy, steel, but had a small viewing port to see who was on the other side. Besides that, there was a small reading light, but absolutely nothing else in the room except for the toilet beside the sink. Akira pulled Shiro into the Prison, Shiro soon yanking his arm away as he headed for the bed.

"So, this is going to be my new home." Shiro said, groaning in annoyance.

"I'm not gonna mock you for it, but this is just a precaution. Sorry, Shiro." Akira said, Shiro laying on the bed. "Look, we're all going to be living in the same conditions, we just have to make sure nobody tries to kill you."

"So, you admit that all the trust and faith you put in others is meaningless." Shiro replied, Akira sighing.

"No, I still believe that no one here under the right frame of mind would kill anyone. But Monokuma's trying to force our hands and we can't risk you being out in the open." Akira said. "Besides, you of all people can't talk about distrust after what you did."

"...Kazue, could you do something for me?" Shiro asked.

"Yeah?" she said warily.

"When I awoke in the bedroom, there was a small bag on the floor next to me. It felt like there was a book inside. Can you bring that to me tomorrow? I will need something to keep my mind off my hunger pangs." Shiro requested, Akira nodding.

"Sure, you thinkin' of sleeping?" she asked, getting a nod from Shiro. "Then I'll bring it to you tomorrow. Try to get plenty of sleep. You'll need it." Akira said, leaving the Prison and locking the door with the Diamond Key. Akira let out a yawn, heading for the bedrooms. She saw Hana and Setsuki playing an intense series of Rock-Paper-Scissors, Airi standing and watching.

"Hey, what's going on?" Akira asked.

"Hana and Setsuki are fighting to figure out which room is theirs." Airi said, sipping a glass of water while she watched.

"Okay, you totally threw that Rock like, a quarter second after I did! Don't be a cheater, you cheater!" Hana complained, Setsuki sighing as she got ready for another round.

"Just pay attention this time, Hana! And laser isn't part of Rock-Paper-Scissors, you ain't pulling a fast one on me, got it missy?" Setsuki shot back, but Akira looked over at Airi, who continued to take small sips of water.

"What're you doing?" Akira asked.

"Drinking water in slow intervals will help stave off hunger, it tricks the body into thinking it's eating food. I learned that back when I was stationed in Mongolia." Airi explained, taking another sip. "Thankfully, Monokuma is willing to supply us water."

"Why were you in Mongolia?" Akira wondered.

"Classified." Airi replied between sips. Akira couldn't tell she was kidding or not behind that rock solid poker face.

"Right, so which room are you taking?" she asked

"The last. They're all the same, so it doesn't matter which one I pick." Airi said with a shrug.

"I'll take Room 5. It's closer to the Prison, so I can keep a better eye on Shiro." Akira said, Airi nodding in agreement, the two watching the battle between Hana and Setsuki reach its climax.

"HAANAAAA!" Setsuki shouted, her voice echoing off the walls of the bunker, only to be matched by a crescendo of stupid to match her own.

"SETSUKIIIIII!" Hana exclaimed, the two slamming their fists against their hands three times. After the third strike, the two revealed their weapons. Hana's fist was tight, signifying that she had picked rock. Setsuki's hand was flat on her palm.

"Paper! I win!" Setsuki cheered, jumping up and down in the air and doing a ridiculous arm-flailing dance. "Whooo! The hype is real!"

"Nooooo! My rock has been covered!" Hana cried out, dropping to her knees in defeat.

"Good job, Setsuki!" Akira said, clapping for Setsuki.

"Rooms 6 and 7 are available, which one do you want?" Airi asked.

"Hrm… I'm gonna go with Sixtsuki!" Setsuki said, Airi staring at her with an annoyed look before splashing her in the face with water.

"I reject that pun." Airi shot, before turning back to Akira as Setsuki went to strain water from her beanie. "Somehow they get more awful the better I know them. I should have just stayed aloof this whole time."

"That's what friends are, though. Friends are awful, and they annoy you half the time, but you can't live without them, ya know?" Akira said, Airi smiling and pushing off the wall she was leaning against.

"Yeah… anyway, I'd better get to bed. See you all tomorrow." Airi said, waving the other girls goodbye as she headed for Room 8. Akira waved back, going into Room 5 and hitting the bed facefirst. Ignoring the sudden growls of her stomach, Akira shut her eyes and tried to get to sleep.


	38. Chapter 4: Daily Life 4

Chapter 4: Persona Non Grata (Daily Life 4)

 _Ding Dong, Bing Bong_

"Gyyyyoood morning, students~ It's a beautiful morning here at Enoshima University, not that you can tell in the bunker! Heheheh! Let's all work together to continue our educational quest and in killing Shiro! We'll all have a big breakfast! Eggs! Steak! Whatever else goes with eggs!"

Kenji groaned as he woke up, feeling a stinging pain in his stomach as he rolled out of bed, falling onto the floor with a thud. "Ow." he muttered as he slowly forced himself up, eyes heavy and feeling a disgusting stickiness as he rubbed them. Kenji headed to the sink, splashing his face with cold water and pouring himself a cup before leaving his room. He looked at the Monopad, seeing two rooms next to the Key Swap; the Showers and the Rec Room. The Rec Room was marked with a Spade symbol, Kenji nodding and heading for the Key Swap to grab the Spade Key.

He picked up the key and unlocked the Rec Room door, looking inside to see a room lit with bright purple fluorescents. Lining the walls were arcade and pinball machines,, with four tables in the center; a pool table, a ping-pong table, an air hockey table and a foosball table. In the corner was a juice bar with taps for water, orange juice and apple juice. Kenji walked over to the juice bar, hoping to find snacks around there. Instead, Monokuma popped up from behind the bar, dressed in a dark green apron and wiping a glass with a rag.

"Mornin' Kenji! If you think you can get by with the sheer power of juice, you would have to drink several dozen gallons before you stop being hungry, but then your stomach with explode… with juice." Monokuma said, balancing a shot glass on his head.

"...I'm too tired to even argue with that. Just gimme some juice." Kenji said.

"Sure thing, pal! We got apple, orange, passion fruit, mango-pineapple, strawberry-banana-" Monokuma began listing off, Kenji knowing he would keep going if he didn't answer.

"Shut up, passion fruit." he said, Monokuma grabbing a mug and pouring passion fruit juice from the tap.

"5 Monocoins, buddy!" Monokuma said, hitting the table. Kenji searched his pockets, finding some Monocoins and throwing them on the counter, Monokuma sweeping them up. Kenji grabbed his mug and looked over the arcade machines. Despite the circumstances, there was one machine Kenji got excited about. It had two plastic guns, one orange and one blue, sitting on a little rail you can hide behind, angry criminals were shooting at the screen for the attract demo.

"Is that… Semi-Auto Justice?!" Kenji asked excitedly.

"Ah, a connoisseur, are we? Yep, that's Semi-Auto Justice from Spike Chunsoft! You're a cop on the edge and the only one not scared enough to enter the 99 floor skyscraper full of evil dudes from some fictional country! Or two people, since it's two player." Monokuma said.

"Oh, hell yeah! I haven't played this in years!" Kenji said, bending down to the coin slot. As with everything else, it was fitted for Monocoins, needing two coins. Kenji dropped in two coins, grabbing the blue light gun. He heard another two coins roll into the machine, turning to see Setsuki grab the orange light gun cocking the light gun more times than necessary. "Oh, morning Setsuki. You wanna play?"

"Keeeennnnn! Let's bust some wastoids, partner!" Setsuki replied, trying to spin her gun on her finger and having it fall out of her hand, only stopped by being connected to a cord "We're like two cowboys on the range of justice!"

"Not sure what this game has to do with cowboys, but yeah!" Kenji shouted as Setsuki grabbed her gun. Kenji shot at the screen to start the game, the two tearing through the early stages. Time went by, and soon Akira was watching from the corner, every time Setsuki or Kenji dipped behind cover to reload, Akira would loom ever closer at the screen with a frustrated pout.

"...What kind of cops are you guys!? You didn't see if there were hostages? Why didn't show your badges… Why are you shooting first? Are you guys listening to me!?" Akira complained, Setsuki was blasting three guys down in a row, tongue poking out of her mouth to one side as she dialed in the aim.

"Blasting baddies. Shh. No one cares about procedure stuff! If ya had to do paperwork for every badface McBalalalal… Bala… Ski mask, this game would totally suck." Setsuki argued.

"Balaclavas…" Akira corrected.

"Baklava!" Setsuki shouted back, throwing a grenade in game and blowing up a car, that was indoors for some reason.

"Bala… Oh screw it." Akira said, shaking her head.

"Akira, it's only a game. Why do you have to be mad?" Setsuki asked.

"It's an insult to my profession! I busted my ass through training and you guys are- WHY ARE YOU IN A HELICOPTER INDOORS?!" Akira asked, incredulous.

"NOW WE'RE IN AMERICA, BABY! This is how America cops work! Kenji! Get the missiles!" Setsuki ordered.

"On it!" Kenji said, switching weapons to missiles and proceeding to blow up several dozen mafia members as Akira looked dumbfounded.

"You're not arresting anybody! You're just blowing them up! I don't even get a gun in real life!"

"Well you're a boring cop, Akira. You don't have an indoor helicopter." Setsuki said, flying the helicopter into people on the video game and taking no damage.

"I don't want an indoor helicopter! This is the stupidest thing!" Akira shouted, stamping her feet.

"Yknow, for a pretty smart cookie you have like, no idea how to have fun! Get in the helicopter, Akira! Kenji's down to his last life."

"I refuse to get in the helicopter! And I know how to have fun! Remember that time I…" Akira said, realizing that the Friendship Relay was an exercise in pain and Reiko throwing things at people. "Well… I mean, I play chess with Yukiji! That's fun!"

"Bzzzzt. Chess. Is. For. Dooooorks!" Setsuki shouted, activating the front machine gun on her helicopter, despite still only using a plastic gun as a controller, then hopping out with Kenji to hide behind more cover. "Real fun always involves exploding, or falling off things! Or falling off things, and exploding!"

"Hey! Yukiji's not a dork! And falling off things and exploding is dangerous!" Akira shouted in response.

"Yeah, but the danger is part of the fun! If you don't live life with a bit of risk, you don't really feel the reward of those endorphins running through you!" Setsuki countered.

"Also, y'know it's a video game." Kenji said, ducking down to reload again. "Almost! Come on! Gaaaah! I'm hit! Officer down!"

"Noooooo! I will avenge you, Officer Kenji!" Setsuki cried out overdramatically, firing at any enemies she could find before being taken down in a hail of digitized gunfire. "Aww man… well, at least we made the high score board." Setsuki said, the two shooting letters to spell out their names. They entered their names on the co-op boards, landing at 5th with Monokuma's name above them and below them in the other slots.

"Wait, how did you lead on the co-op scoreboards with just yourself?" Kenji asked, Monokuma chuckling from behind the bar.

"It's called dual-wielding, Kenji!" Monokuma said, Kenji rolling his eyes at that.

"Sure… anyway, I think I need a break from the arcade. Akira, you're up." Kenji said, handing the blue light gun to her and heading off.

"What? Wait, I don't want- Hey, get back here!" Akira shouted as Kenji left the Rec Room. He looked around and thought about where to go, heading into the Green Hall first. He stopped at Bedroom 2, knocking on the door.

"Hey, Yukata? You in there, man?" Kenji asked, the door opening and Yukata giving a wave.

"Hey, Kenji. What's going on?" Yukata asked.

"Ah, nothing. Just wanted to see how you were doing." Kenji said, rubbing the back of his head.

"...Wanna play cards?" Yukata asked.

"Sure, you got a few decks with you?" Kenji asked, Yukata walking away from the door and over to his bed. Kenji stepped in, seeing Yukata drag an aluminum briefcase across the floor, he laid the briefcase on the floor, unlocking and flipping it open. On the top was decks of cards, all kept in custom holsters with different colors and symbols. On the bottom was a pool of shiny Monocoins. "Whoa, where did you get all these Monocoins from?"

"I've been hoarding them since we first found them." Yukata said.

"Yeah, but that many? I mean, you've had to have spent some of them, right?" Kenji said, scratching his head.

"Here and there whenever I needed something, but I'm not letting my collection get any smaller. I've got over 1000 of these from just digging around the new places we get to explore. Monokuma hid these in trees, desks, inside boxes. All that stuff. I guess I thought Monokuma would make us use it to escape, or somethin'." Yukata explained.

"Fun Fact: The MonoMono Machine contains a secret Escape Switch that disables the forcefield and lets you leave! It's a 0.001% chance, but that's still less than 0!" Monokuma announced as he appeared.

"Let's see… 0.001 implies there's a one in 100,000 chance… and I have about 1041 Monocoins, but the repeat rate means I have to wager one extra Monocoin every attempt to not get a repeat. I would need at least a few hundred thousand Monocoins to get it…" Yukata said, looking at the ceiling and trying to calculate the possibility of getting the Escape Switch.

"Or just be stupid lucky! Ya never know! I met a guy that lucky once, he was awful." Monokuma said, grumbling. "Anyway, there's no MonoMono Machines in the bunker, so the only way you're getting that Escape Switch is if you, say it with me now…"

The two didn't follow along with Monokuma's instructions, leaving Monokuma standing there awkwardly with a paw outstretched. "...You kill Shiro! You've gotta kill Shiro! Did you idiots already forget the motive!?" Monokuma asked, exasperated.

"We know. We're not gonna do it. Do you have anything you want to tell us or are you just here to annoy us?" Kenji said.

"Just checking how you guys are holding up. Feeling the rumblies in your tumblies?" Monokuma asked, rubbing his belly with one hand.

"No, now get out. We're trying to play Shadow Realms!" Yukata shouted.

"Bah! Lemme know when you wanna join the cool kids! Smell ya later, losers!" Monokuma said, sliding out of the room halfway before stopping.. "By the way, don't eat the cards, they have lead." he said, sliding out the whole way.

"They don't seriously have lead, do they?" Kenji asked, Yukata shaking his head.

"Of course not, I think, I mean… Why put lead in a card game?" Yukata pointed out.

"X-Rays." Kenji argued. But that make Yukata stifle a chuckle.

"You sound like a conspiracy theorist now, Kenji." Yukata said, looking over the decks. He pulled decks out, setting them aside. "Hrm… no. No. No. Nu-uh. Not that one. Ooh, that'd be a good one for you!" he said, throwing Kenji a deck. Kenji caught the deck in his hands while Yukata pulled out a folded game mat, carefully laying it on the ground.

"So, you've done pretty well for a starter and I started thinking 'What kind of deck would fit for Kenji'? I pored over all of my decks and finally found a good one." Yukata explained.

"Oh, cool. How's it work?" Kenji asked.

"Oh, don't worry. You'll figure it out as you play." Yukata said, opening up a holster and sliding the deck onto the mat. Kenji opened up his holster and trying the same, the cards spilling out onto the mat. "Good job."

"Shut up, cards are slippery!" Kenji said, trying to sweep all the cards together. He made an awkward pile in his hands, cards jutting out at weird angles while Kenji tried to straighten them by mashing them up. Yukata grabbed the deck from him, rearranging the deck with ease. "...Oh sure, make me look stupid." Kenji said with a chuckle. Yukata laughed and set the deck on the opposite side of the mat, the sitting down on the bedroom floor.

The duel began and Kenji puzzled over his cards, unsure at first of what they did. He shrugged and played as best he could, Yukata playing rather sloppily at the start. This gave Kenji a few openings to learn, picking up on the mechanics of the deck; certain monsters could be moved to the backrow, giving boosts to other monsters at the front, and even switching spell cards out for monsters if Kenji had enough mana to do it. He started getting the early advantage and Yukata's mistakes began to stop suddenly.

"Alright, now I get to really play." Yukata said, drawing his next card.

"I thought you were holding back…" Kenji said.

"Well, this isn't a tournament match, it's just a friendly game, ya know. If you learn something that makes you do better, I'll start picking it up a bit to challenge you. Besides, do you want me to curbstomp you in the first five turns?" Yukata said, Kenji laughing at that.

"I think I'll pass, thanks." Kenji said, Yukata smiling and making his next move.

"If I beat people in the early turns of their first game, then they'd never want to play the game again. It took a while to learn to play bad, but it can be fun in its own way." Yukata explained. The game went on, the two trading the lead position for another 20 minutes as they whittled each other's hit points. The game began to come to an end when Yukata played the card "Double-Edged Sword" which would hit both players for any damage done to Yukata, until Kenji removed it from play.

Then, Yukata played the key card of this deck, a skill that let him kill his own monsters, doing reduced damage to himself, but full damage to Kenji. This compounded ontop of the effect of Double-Edged Sword, meaning every point of damage Yukata took, Kenji took 2 points. The downside was Yukata only could summon one monster per turn, compared to Kenji, who could summon as many as he wants as long as he had mana.

"T-thats mean, dude!" Kenji said, shocked at the full scope of this plan.

"That's how this deck works, I risk my life, but if they can't pull through, it's pretty much a death sentence." Yukata explained. Yukata kept killing his monsters, Kenji looking for a card to take Yukata's Double-Edged Sword off the field. However, no card came into play and the match ended with both at 0 hit points.

"...Wait, but who wins? I mean, you lost your last point before the two points hit me, right?" Kenji asked, scratching his head.

"Yeah, but the the damage will still follow through and you couldn't recover. I guess that means nobody wins." Yukata said, putting away his deck. "Good game. You'd make a pretty good regional champion if you played more regularly. I didn't think you would try and finish me before you took too much damage."

"Heh, maybe if we get out of here, I'll visit you so you can teach me a bit more. That was fun, man." Kenji said, Yukata grabbing Kenji's deck.

"You think we can get out of here?" Yukata asked.

"Yeah, we'd just need to find the exit. You explore this place all the way yet?" Kenji asked.

/"No, not yet. Mostly just been looking over what decks I got in the case." Yukata said, packing up his decks and shutting the case. "Do you think Monokuma has an exit around here that just costs a buncha Monocoins? If that happens, I got us covered." Yukata said, Kenji chuckling at that.

"Maybe, but I imagine he'd probably make you pay a high price for just one person." Kenji said, getting off the floor. "C'mon, let's see what we find." he said, walking out Yukata's room with the Ultiamte Card Game Player in tow. The two started their search by walking to the end of Green Hall, taking opposite ends of the halls and running their hands along the wall, feeling for any indentations or bumps. Yukata stopped at the Equipment Room, rubbing his chin in thought.

"I'm gonna check out the Equipment Room. You find anything yet?" Yukata asked, Kenji shaking his head.

"No, nothing yet…" Kenji said, stopping at Bedroom 3. Haru's Room. A light bulb lit up in Kenji's head. "You go on ahead, Yukata. I'm gonna see if we can get Kiko to search with us." Kenji said, Yukata giving a thumbs up and running for the Key Swap. Kenji knocked on the door, hearing a few excited yips before Haru let out a groan from behind the door.

"Hold on, I'm coming!" Haru said, opening the door, arm still slung up. "Oh, hey Kenji. What's up?"

"Hey, Haru. How's your shoulder doing?" Kenji asked, bending down to give Kiko pats.

"Still been hurting like a bastard. Kiko's been helping keep my spirits up." Haru said, Kiko rolling onto her back for belly rubs. Kenji chuckled and rubbed Kiko's belly.

"Who likes belly rubs? Who likes belly rubs~?" Kenji said, voice becoming more stupid and childish as he continued. Haru let out a hearty laugh.

"That's what I'm talking about! Kiko doesn't let anyone feel down, no matter how bad things are."

"...Is she doing alright? I mean, we don't have any food, is Kiko going to starve?" Kenji asked, concern in his voice.

"No, crazy thing is that when I woke up, well… come on in, have a look." Haru said, moving aside so Kenji could walk in. Kenji stepped in and saw a pile of cheap looking canned dog food with a plastic bowl and can opener next to it. "This stuff is like… the cheapest dog chow you can get. It makes Kiko's fur grow out wrong, she loses her poof factor with the wrong food, y'know?"

"...Poof factor?" Kenji asked, puzzled look in his eyes.

"Yeah, you can tell how healthy a dog is by looking at their coat. It's not great quality food and it tastes like someone made a stew out of burnt hamburgers, but it'll keep Kiko alive." Haru explained. "Hey, would you mind opening up a can? It's hard to get the opener to work with one arm."

"Sure thing." Kenji replied, grabbing the can opener and opening up a can, smelling the familiar aroma of imitation beef product and broth before handing the can to Haru. "Man, I can see what you mean, Haru. This stuff smells awful." Kenji said as Haru poured food into the bowl, Kiko walking over and sitting at the bowl. Haru pulled the can up after a bit, walking over to his bed and setting the can on his nightstand.

"Yeah, but the taste is… kinda shit, really. Like, worse than the smell." Haru said, grabbing a spoon from the nightstand and putting it into the can, stirring a bit.

"Yeah, probably tastes like- wait, what?" Kenji asked as he looked away from Kiko eating to see Haru put a spoonful of dog food in his mouth, grimacing as he tried to chew the strange brown substance.

"It tastes like I'm licking the inside of a dirty copper pipe. But it's wet, and grainy." Haru said, tightening his fist around the spoon and smacking his lips as he attempted to force the sludge down his throat.

"Are… Haru, are you eating- why- I… what?" Kenji asked, struggling to find words asHaru gagged and coughed, while trying to swallow.

"LIVIN' AIN'T EASY, KENJI!" Haru said, before nearly throwing up what he had in his mouth.

"But… Wha… Haru, it's dog food! I can't believe I have to tell you not to eat dog food!" Kenji said, putting his hands on the sides of his head.

"I know it's dog food! But look at the second part of the word! Food! There isn't any other food coming, I gotta do something!" Haru shouted, pulling up another spoonful of putrid viscera. Kenji went to grab the spoon from Haru.

"Haru, stop! Don't eat any more dog fo- What the fuck am I saying? HARU!" Kenji shouted, trying to pull the spoon away, Kiko barking and jumping up and down while watching this. Kenji finally wrestled the spoon away from Haru, grabbing the can just in case.

"Anh! Damn it!" Haru exclaimed, rubbing his hurt shoulder.

"Haru, I know the situation is bad, but you can't live off dog food. Why would you even think to eat this anyway?" Kenji asked.

"Well, I figured I would need to eat it eventually, so I decided to start now and get used to the taste." Haru explained.

"I don't think that's gonna work. I think you'll just end up dying." Kenji said, Haru sighing.

"Yeah, I know… I've just been having a lot of thoughts and ideas in my head since we got stuck in this bunker. I mean, I've had them since the Killing Game started, but getting locked in here with no food has just pushed them up from the back of my mind…" Haru began. "I started wondering what's gonna happen to Kiko?"

"These cans aren't gonna last forever and who knows if Monokuma is gonna give me any more… what if Kiko starves down here? What if everyone here dies before we get out? Who's gonna take care of her? What if someone gets desperate and tries to kill her for food? What if it's me, I just go crazy and kill her?" Haru fired off question after question before Kenji could even think of answers. "And I've been thinking… maybe we should just kill Shiro."

"What?!" Kenji exclaimed.

"Well, I mean, it's all well and good to have solidarity with who is left, but Shiro's always been an outlier who constantly bullies people. He even tried to frame Yukata, then me, then Akira for Akami's death. He didn't mind wanting us all to die. And now it's a choice between one asshole being killed or all of my friends slowly starving to death." Haru said, Kenji slowly putting a hand on his good shoulder.

"No, there is another way. Yukata and I are looking for a way to escape this place. That's actually why I came here, I wanted to borrow Kiko to see if she can sniff out a secret room." Kenji said, Haru looking at Kenji and thinking.

"You really think there's a way out of here?" he asked.

"If Monokuma put us in here, then that means there's a way to get out. We just gotta work together to find it. We can't give up, it's just what Monokuma wants." Kenji said, Haru slowly giving off a big, toothy grin.

"Heh! You're right, Kenji! We can't give Monokuma the satisfaction of beating us! Kiko! You're going on a treasure hunt!" Haru said with his familiar enthusiasm, Kiko letting out a few barks before standing behind Kenji.

"Thanks Haru, I'll bring her back in a bit." Kenji said, Kenji and Haru fistbumping before Kenji left to continue his search, Kiko running ahead of Kenji and sniffing the floor around her with each step.


	39. Chapter 4: Daily Life 5

Chapter 4: Persona Non Grata (Daily Life 5)

Akira finally left the arcade, exhausted from playing Semi-Auto Justice for hours. Though she couldn't get over how stupid and absurd the game was, playing with Setsuki was fun, despite Setsuki twisting her arm to play it for longer than Akira would've wanted to. Now she needed to wind down from that intense gaming session, thinking briefly of what to do. She headed for the Green Hall, finding the door unlocked. She look inside to see Kiko sniffing at the walls, Kenji crouched down and watching her. "Hey, Kiko. Looking for something?" Akira asked, getting a bark in response.

"Hey, Akira. We're trying to see if we can find a way out." Kenji said, standing up. "You wanna join us?"

"Maybe later. I'm kind of strung up from skydiving and shooting mechs with Setsuki. I need to wind down so I'm gonna see Yukiji, he's kind of an expert at sleepiness." Akira explained, Kenji nodding and giving a thumbs up.

"Alright, seeya later. He's in Bedroom 4. Have fun." Kenji said, Akira returning the thumbs up and heading for Bedroom 4. Haru was the one holding the key for the Green Hall, but it seemed like he intentionally left the door open for Kenji and Yukata's search. She knocked on Yukiji's door, hearing a soft yawn and shuffling movements from beyond before Yukiji opened the door.

"Oh, hey Akira, didja bring a pizza?" Yukiji asked.

"Still no food, sorry." Akira replied, sighing.

"Oh, right…. So, what's going on?" he asked, head bobbing slightly.

"Just wanted to hang out. I'm a bit wound up and need to come down. You got chess?" Akira asked. Yukiji nodded and let her come in. On the floor was a fully-pieced chess board, Yukiji grabbing the pillows from the bed and throwing them onto the floor. Yukiji sat at the white pieces, Akira straightening her pillow before sitting down at the black pieces. "Where'd you get the extra pillow?" she asked, remembering how each bed only had one pillow.

"Kenji gave it to me. It's what he came in the bunker with." Yukiji answered. 'I asked him if I could borrow a pillow and he gave me his spare."

"...Why did you need two pillows?" Akira asked, puzzled.

"Because I like having my head in a pillow sandwich when I sleep." Yukiji explained as he made his first move. Akira followed that up as Yukiji continued talking. "Back at the orphanage, I would collect as many pillows I could and cover my bed in them and just sleep on the pillows."

"...Wait, did you say orphanage?" Akira said, Yukiji nodding.

"Y-yeah… wait, you didn't know about the orphanage? That was my secret in the Monokuma Theater." Yukiji explained.

"No, I wasn't at the Theater, remember? And the fire had gone off before Yukata's so nobody saw it in the Theater." Akira said, moving another pawn.

"Yeah, I was raised in an orphanage. I never learned my parent's names, Chimon was the last name of the owner of the orphanage, and I respected her a lot... She taught me chess when I was 6 after some bullies kicked me out of their Go Fish game." Yukiji said, softly spinning a pawn in his finger before moving it.

"Why would they- it's Go Fish, why would they kick you out?" Akira said.

"They said it was because I was the weird kid and I would ruin their fun. Ayase always played chess with me, because none of the kids wanted to be friends with me. She thought I was pretty good, so she took me to an invitational when I was 9, and I won, even if it made a buncha parents mad and they thought I was fixing matches, since I was 5-6 years younger than everyone else." Yukiji said, making the first capture of the game.

"But you weren't, right?" Akira said.

"Mhm. I even played against some of the judges to prove that I was playing fair. I beat them too, but I got kicked out later for always standing on the seats when I play and damaging them with my shoes. So I started playing in my socks." He said, Akira looking over and noticing he was using his feet on the pillow to help him balance.

"Do you always do that?" Akira asked, Yukiji chuckled as Akira managed to take one of his pieces.

"I have to do something with my fingers or toes when I think, or I won't be able to focus. Sometimes it's eating candy, sometimes it's fiddling with my hair, or a chess piece." Yukiji explained.

"So that's why you like KitKats so much." Akira said, Yukiji nodding.

"That and it's delicious. I love anything with wafers and chocolate." Yukiji replied, Akira huffed and eliminated a knight of his.

"...Did they ever sponsor you?" Akira asked, as she watched Yukiji take her own knight, and held it in his hands.

"Nope. People don't really put chess and chocolate together, despite me trying to sell someone the idea of a chocolate chess set…" Yukiji said, moving his rook.

"A chocolate chess set? Would you play with it or eat it?" Akira asked, trying to put the image of a chocolate chess set out of her head, from still starving with hunger.

"The white side would be white chocolate, and the black side would be like… milk chocolate, or dark chocolate." Yukiji said, subconsciously starting to chew a knight in the corner of his mouth. Akira gently pulled the knight from his mouth.

"Don't eat the chess pieces, they probably taste like lacquer." Akira warned, setting the knight back on his spot. The two kept playing, Yukiji winning the game with only three pieces lost. "Good game, Akira. Wanna play again?" he asked, Akira smiling and resetting her pieces.

"Sure thing. That was fun." Akira said with a little smile, and they began to play chess again, but it felt like moments passed, and that game ended. Then they played again, and again, and again until Yukiji started to nod off.

"I think I have to call it, Akira… I don't know if I can play all night." Yukiji said, but Akira started to laugh as she wiped some sweat from her brow.

"Y-you sure? I mean, we could always play one more…" Akira trailed off as Yukiji hugged his pillow and fell back on the floor. Akira looked at him, and slowly pushed off one leg to stand back up and walk out the door, despite nearly stumbling, she closed it behind her and pressed her back to it.

 _Ding Dong, Bing Bong_

"Goooooooood morning, students! It is now 7 AM, and the beginning of another beautiful day in my safety bunker! If ya like food, you could always kill Shiro. Your call!" The voice of Monokuma announced as Akira shot her eyes open. It was roughly the afternoon when she stopped playing with Setsuki. Did she really play with Yukiji for that long?

Her head began to spin as she tried to walk back to her bedroom, but she began to stumble, leaning against the wall as she slowly felt energy drain from her tired body faster than she was used to, she ended up collapsing on the floor, her vision blurred to black, before time passed yet again.

Akira found herself laying on a different bed, in a room that was nearly a sterile shade of blue, lit by painfully bright fluorescent lights. Her vision came to focus as a purple haired woman inspected her, a gloved hand on her face. "Oh hey, you're up." Airi said.

"Huh? Airi? Where am I?" Akira asked groggily. Suddenly slapping her hands over every pocket on her outfit, before finding the Diamond Key in her right back pocket. Akira sighed as she sat back up and looked around the room to see Hana looking through a cabinet, trying to read off labels by mumbling them.

"Kenji found you in the hallway. He called Hana and I to help out, and I remember on that poorly drawn crayon map that this room was a medicine room." Airi explained, Akira stumbling off the futon and looking some more at the room. It had a nearly wall height cabinet on one side filled with various bottles and phials of medicine, though each one was marked with a letter and a number correlating to which shelf each one was on.

"Why did I pass out…? I remember playing chess with Yukiji, and when I was done, I fainted." Akira explained, Airi softly adjusted her gloves as she occasionally looked through the side of her eye that Hana wasn't doing anything stupid to the medicine.

"Starvation is more than just being hungry, it's your body having no energy to function. If you don't get a lot of sleep, your body will break down. It's no laughing matter." Airi explained. "Hana, have you got the Sibutramine yet?"

"I'm looking! Don't rush rush me, this cabinet is too tall and I can barely remember the name! Did you say 'Siberia'?" Hana asked, staring at a bottle of Peroxide.

"What time is it?" Akira asked, rubbing her eyes.

"Sibutramine, Hana! I've said it a thousand times! Write it on your forehead if you think it helps!" Airi groaned, turning back to Akira.

"I can't read it on my forehead unless I wrote it backwards in a mirror! Who's the dummy now!?" Hana shouted, cutting off her attempt to tell Akira the time.

"AHEM! It's 12pm, and the third day since we've woken up here. I'm trying to get Hana to help me create appetite suppressants for everybody. Hopefully she can find Sibutramine and some amino acids… Maybe some caffeine. It should help while we look for an exit." Airi continued, but half the words floated in one of Akira's ears and out the other, she was focused on something else.

"I-I played chess with Yukiji for 11 hours…?" Akira asked aloud.

"Can't say for sure." Airi said. "You probably were too focused on the game to notice the time passing."

"I guess… it just didn't feel like eleven hours… no wonder Yukiji was so tired." Akira said.

"More tired than usual?" Hana asked, tossing another bottle aside.

"Hana, stop throwing the supplements! We might need those later!" Airi shouted, Akira looking down at the bottles scattered on the floor. Among the bottles she could see a few of them were dietary supplements, but there were also bottles with skull-and-crossbones marked on them.

"Are those… poison?" Akira asked, Airi looking down and picking up the bottles from the floor.

"Mhm. The cabinet that Hana is rifling through is a cabinet filled with supplements, reagents and most annoyingly, poisons. I'm assuming they were put in there by Monokuma to move the Killing Game along. How could we kill Shiro, after all if we have no weapons?" Airi noted.

"So, should we just dump the poisons into the toilet?" Akira asked.

"That's what I was thinking, but Airi said it'd just be a waste of time." Hana said.

"Monokuma would probably just replace the poison if we dispose of it. We're better off keeping it here and never using it." Airi said as Hana let out an excited yell.

"YEEEHHHHH! I GOT THE SUPERTIME! GET DUNKED, MEDICINE CABINET!" Hana shouted, shaking the bottle in her hand. She attempted a lay up on the small bottle, Airi barely catching it and trying to make sure it didn't slip from her hand.

"Can you not throw that the next time I ask for it?" Airi asked, rubbing her temple with her free hand. "And when we get out of here, I'm dragging you and Setsuki to my lab so you can learn names."

"Learn? What do you think this is, a school?" Hana exclaimed.

"...Yes. It is a school." Airi replied, sighing and turning to Akira. "Anyway, do you have any more questions because otherwise you're free to go."

"If you give that supplement to everyone.. Will you promise me that you haven't poisoned Shiro's?" Akira asked.

"Subterfuge is unnecessary if Shiro's death isn't going to cause a class trial. If I poisoned Shiro's drink, I would tell you, since I have no reason to hide that." Airi reassured her, setting down the sibutramine and amino acids, then mixing them together in a bottle of water. Akira's eyes widened as she scrambled off the futon she had been sitting on.

"Do we have any more bottled water?" Akira asked, rooting through drawers.

"There's a few bottles in the fridge." Airi said, pointing her thumb to a small fridge in the corner of the room. Akira grabbed a bottle and bolted out of the medicine room. She quickly checked the bottle cap to see if the seal was broken, tampered, or reattached. It had been a day and a half since she had checked on Shiro and she had to make sure he was still alive in that cell.

When Akira pulled out the Diamond Key and opened up the cell door, the sight she saw scared her, as there were dozens of blood stains on the wall near the door, Shiro was sitting on his makeshift bed, one of his white sleeves stained with his own blood. "Sh-Shiro! Are you okay?!" Akira gasped out, running over to check on him.

"Anh… Kazue? Is that you?" Shiro asked, voice raspy.

"What happened? Did somebody get in here?" she asked, Shiro coughing a bit. Akira quickly uncapped the bottle, handing it to him. Shiro slowly grabbed the bottle, putting it to his lips and drinking. Shiro had drank half the bottle before finally speaking.

"No, nobody has been in here since I was locked up. The blood is mine, of course, but it was my own doing." Shiro explained, Akira looking to see that Shiro's knuckles were scraped and covered in dried blood. She quickly ran out of the room, back to the medicine room and raiding it for bandages. She grabbed some bandages and antibacterial gel, soaking a washcloth in warm water before hauling ass back to the prison, unlocking the door.

"Hold still, Shiro! I got some bandages!" Akira said, grabbing Shiro's hand and dabbing at it with the warm cloth. She used the sheet to dry off Shiro's hands once they were clean, rubbing on some antibacterial gel on their wounds before wrapping the bandages around them. "There, it's probably going to sting a bit. What were you doing?" Akira asked.

"Truth be told, I was becoming frustrated with my situation, so I began punching the wall. There's nothing more to it." Shiro said.

"...Oh, that's right! I was supposed to get you that book, wasn't I?" Akira said, suddenly remembering Shior's request.

"Yes, but I understand why you had forgotten. I overheard Kudo and Taisei in the hall carrying you to the medicine room. I take it you had passed out?" Shiro asked, Akira nodding.

"Mhm. I ended up staying up too long doing something, and my body couldn't handle it. Sorry about that." Akira said, Shiro waving it off.

"Honestly, I thought it might be better if you just forgot I was in here, you would have found my body and probably not feel anything about it." he said.

"What? No! No one has to die here! Why are you saying stuff like that?" Akira asked, horrified at such a reaction.

"Because this… all of this is my fault. We're all locked in here, slowly starving to death because Monokuma was furious with me for circumventing his rules. I thought I could save all of Japan by sacrificing the only human contact I have. Everything that's happened to us, is because of my hubris." Shiro said, bandaged hands shaking.

"I'm alone in here, and I've ran out of people I can blame, diminish, humiliate, or use as a scapegoat. I'm here because I failed, I tried to make a promise to myself. Not only have I tarnished that promise, I've pretty much obliterated any worth of getting out of here alive, I killed Akami because I thought I was better suited to take down Monokuma than anyone else, but I was lying to myself. Being a leader is worthless if no one wants to follow you, if you're not even worth listening to." Shiro continued, looking at his wounded hand. "And… I was taking it out on myself. I can't pass the blame when it's convenient anymore." He stated, standing back up and punching the wall as hard as he could.

"What kind of leader am I!?" Shiro shouted, biting his lower lip and closing his eyelids as he felt the sting of tears welling up from his eyes. "Acting like I can't do anything wrong, who will destroy others when he has the chance!? Sacrifice the people I'm supposed to serve?! I'm worthless, Akira!" Shiro said, tears streaming from his face. He then felt something touch his shoulder, he opened his eyes, looking at Akira.

Akira didn't say anything immediately, having to process everything that he had just said. This wasn't Shiro, not as she or anyone else still living knew Shiro. His cool composure, sneering disposition and acid-tipped tongue had vanished. His hair was disheveled mess, his hands were bereft of their gloves, covered in bandages and his glasses were lopsided and cracked.

"Being alone in here made me realize something… I've manufactured my whole life so I could be alone. I thought I was smarter, wiser, better than everyone because I worked so hard to earn it… And this is where I end up. Alone, a murderer, with about half of you being okay if I found a gun and shot myself… and finding myself agreeing with them."

"And then I thought about Kenji's words… he hated me more than anyone. The feeling was mutual, of course. He was everything I thought was useless for success. He let his emotions dictate his every move, put blind faith in others even while they were planning to betray us… then he refused to kill me, even with everything stacked in his favor. I was his enemy, I betrayed his trust, I murdered someone and got away with it while his friends were punished… but he rose above all that and refused to take Monokuma's bait. He did something I couldn't and now he's out beyond that door, suffering for my mistakes..." Shiro said, shuddering and crying further still.

"Shiro… this isn't your fault. Monokuma probably had this whole bunker motive set up well before you killed Akami. This additional motive was prob-"

"Stop saying it isn't my goddamn fault, Akira!" Shiro shouted, startling her. "It is. This whole thing is my fault." Shiro said, removing his glasses and looking at the ground with his hazel colored eyes. "I should pay for what I did. Then maybe the rest of you wouldn't starve."

"...What about Saya, Shiro? Didn't you say you wanted to make sure she was safe? Do you really want to die never knowing the fate of your sister? Do you think she would be happy if Shiro gave up and died in a hole instead of rescuing his friends and trying to save her, even if we failed? You don't deserve to die, Shiro, regardless of what you did. Monokuma deserves to die, if I made it through a class trial alive, I would be thankful and try everything I can to help everyone escape with my second chance at life! I want to help! I owe my friends this, I owe Miho this! Do you really want to die, instead of trying to save as many people as you can!?" Akira said, ignoring the pain she felt saying Miho's name. She tightened her fists as she focused on Shiro.

"How could you, a goddamn cop forgive someone for murder!? Capital punishment is a real punishment for murderers in Japan, am I a special exception!?"

"Monokuma put us in this position, he's responsible for everything that's happened. Wakako would never have done anything wrong if he didn't torture us into desperation! Same goes for Emi, and Reiko. They were good people, they wouldn't murder someone of their own free will! You're a victim too, Shiro. We all are."

"Maybe I wanted to be a victim, deep in the back of my head, and no matter how much I told people otherwise. Every other person had a reason to kill someone, I just did it because I thought it was my chance to escape."

"We can't do anything about what happened. You have to take the situation in your own hands, Shiro. You've put yourself here… and maybe you can confide in others to help you back out. They'll trust you with time, honest."

"Your optimism is difficult to deal with, Akira. Have you always been like that? I'd gag if it didn't remind me I was starving." Shiro said, starting to regain some of his attitude.

"No, but I was in a bad place, just like you… And I started to realize that if I'm not strong enough to handle things, it's okay to find someone to help you through it… It made me realize how important finding people who matter to you was." Akira said. "We'll get everyone on the same page, escape the bunker, and tell Monokuma just where he can shove it." Akira said, clenching her fist with determination. "You just have to believe in everyone that we can do it!" she exclaimed, slamming her elbow into the palm of her other hand without thinking. 

"...You miss her, don't you?" Shiro asked, Akira blinking as she realized what she was doing. In a second, the tears began to billow out. "Ah! I'm sorry! I didn't mean-" Shiro apologized for once in his life, but the room filled with several minutes of silence as Akira nearly choked on her own tears, before wiping some of it off with her wrist.

"N-no, it's fine. I shouldn't keep this in…" Akira said, voice breaking. ""It felt like I knew Miho for years the moment she looked me in the eyes. It felt right… and now she's not here anymore. I don't know if we were together before I lost my memories… But God dammit, it felt like it!" she said, wiping away more tears.

"Memories and feelings are separated from each other. Whatever took our memories, probably never took away our internal feelings about those moments. Maybe we still all feel the same way about certain things, even though we don't know what they are, just because of how strong those emotions were. That's why we still have our fears, our ambitions… our loves." Shiro said, a hint of defeat in his voice. "I envy you and Kenji. The both of you still had feelings towards people here. Friends and loved ones who you could go to when this all began. I had nothing. No one… and knowing who I am, that was probably my own decision."

Akira wasn't sure that was true. She remembered that photo in Emi's lab, of Shiro and Kenji talking as if they were friends. However, she couldn't bring herself to say anything about it. At this point, the Kenji and Shiro in that photo were long gone and there had been so much animosity between them since the Killing Game began, it was possibly never going to happen again, even if they escaped. She simply took his hand in hers, giving it a gentle squeeze. "If you want, I can stay here for the night." Akira offered.

"Make sure you bring water this time." Shiro said. "Oh, and maybe that book you still owe me."

Akira slapped herself in the side of the head. "Oh, damn it! I forgot that too, didn't I? Hold on, I'll get it right now! I'll even get a few more from the library!" Akira said, heading for the door. "Lucky for you, the library also uses the Diamond Key." she said, leaving the Prison and heading for the Library.


	40. Chapter 4: Daily Life 6

Chapter 4: Persona Non Grata (Daily Life 6)

Kenji looked at the door in front of him. He had been avoiding this room. Ever since he saw that room on Monokuma's horribly-scrawled map of the bunker, he's been avoiding the room. The room that linked the Blue and Green Halls, marked the "No Mercy Room." Just from the name alone, Kenji knew this was Monokuma's endgame for this motive. Whatever was beyond this door, hidden away in the room, would lead to one of them ending up dead. The frame of the door was painted black, the sign was cardboard, and covered in fake pink blood spatters.

"...We gotta do this, right? We've been putting it off… Monokuma named this room, so it's gotta be important, right?" Yukata asked, Kenji inhaling through his nose. He exhaled sharply, nodding.

"Yeah… I just was hoping we wouldn't have to ever go near this room. He's up to something and I don't wanna take his bait on this." Kenji said, looking around the hall, hoping that an exit from the bunker would appear if he just looked hard enough. After a few more scans of the Green Hall, Kenji finally turned back to the No Mercy Room's door. He turned the knob, going to open the door only for Monokuma to pop out in front of the door.

"Nooooooooooooooo Mercy! No mercy! Nomercynomercynomercy! Mercy, and the lack thereof!" Monokuma said, clearly trying to be more annoying than usual.

"I hate this room and I haven't even entered it yet." Kenji said. "Move, bear. Yukata and I want to investigate."

"Oooh, last time you investigated a building with Yukata, someone ended up dead in it! In fact, I think that's happened the last two times you and your lil' buddy investigated a building! Going for the hat trick, Kenji?" Monokuma teased, Kenji scowling at the black-and-white bear. "Now then, the thing to understand about the No Mercy Room is its the distinct dearth of mercy! It's just so… merciless! Puhuhu~"

"You're really going on about this whole no mercy thing. Is there anything else we need to know?" Yukata asked.

"If you're gonna go in that you, you better have some conviction! It locks the moment you go inside, and you either will end up dead behind that door, or, end up killin' somebody! It's no laughing matter, despite how much I've laughed at it so far. ONLY use this room if you want someone to get dead!" Monokuma warned.

"Alright, then we're avoiding this room. Thanks for the wording, Monokuma." Kenji said, turning around and walking off.

"C'moooooon! You guys have been starving for 3 days and you're still not interested!? Stop ignoring my gimmick! I worked really hard on this! Oooooh! I am heated! I am soooo miffed! You hear me, Kenji! MIFFED!" Monokuma shouted.

"Yeah well, get miffed! I hope you stay miffed, you dumb mascot character!" Kenji called back as he left the hall.

"Kenji, that made absolutely no sense, just to let you know." Yukata said.

"Shut up, Yukata." Kenji replied, half jokingly.

"Suck it, Kenji." Yukata replied, sticking out his tongue at him before continuing his train of thought. "Anyway, I'm guessing he wants us to be desperate enough to use that room to kill Shiro. I haven't really seen any weapons around here, the closest we got to weapons is in the equipment room, I'll take a blind shot, and assume you can get weapons from that room." he theorized.

"It could always be an exit, Monokuma might be lying." Kenji suggested.

"I don't know about that. He seemed to… direct about what the effect of the room was. If he was being coy enough to lie about what the room does, he'd mess with us. Didn't you notice Monokuma was just being annoying, instead of vague? He meant what he said about the room." Yukata continued, Kenji's eyes widening a bit as he listened.

"...Did Airi just take over your brain? That made a lot of sense." Kenji said.

"Hey, I can think! I have a brain under my green hair, dude. Why do you think I'm good at card games?" Yukata said, affronted.

"Well, yeah. I just thought that was because you were a nerd." Kenji said, Yukata laughing.

"Hey, screw you!" Yukata said, still smiling. "I mean, yeah, maybe me and Airi did talk about this stuff over foosball." he said.

"Foosball?" Kenji asked.

"Yeah, it just came out of nowhere too. I was just reshuffling some decks and then Airi charged in and dragged me off to the Rec Room because she wanted someone to play foosball against her.

"...Airi plays foosball? That's the thing she likes!?" Kenji asked, opening his Monopad and scrolling through the student list to see if he could get Airi's profile.

 _Likes: Foosball, Takoyaki, Kpop, Chemistry  
Dislikes: ?_

"...I guess she does! What the hell?"

"Guess so. She seemed to have fun, in her.. Airi way." Yukata said. "...Can you look at mine?"

 _Yukata Watanabe_

 _Likes: Pizza, Card Games, Friendship, Bunk beds_

 _Dislikes: CEOs, Ancient Egypt, Ghosts, Spiders_

"...CEOs?" Kenji asked Yukata.

"It's complicated, okay!?" Yukata said, dodging the question. "Anyway, is.. That every room we've come across? Two hallways, a few rooms on each one, the bedrooms… and the No Mercy room."

"Yeah, that's about it. No exit in sight, sadly." Kenji said with a sigh. "If there was one, Monokuma hid it pretty damn well. He did say this was only a section of the bunker."

"Hrm.. maybe there's something in the equipment room that'll help us bust through walls." Yukata thought aloud "If there's a sledgehammer, fuckin' dibs. Okay?"

"No, Monokuma's probably taken out anything that could do that. He did it with the plasma cutter in the dorm workshop." Kenji added, Yukata just sighing.

"Not if he thinks we're gonna use it to kill Shiro. Maybe we could pretend to want to kill Shiro, take weapons from Monokuma, and then pull an Alcatraz with the weapons he gives us!" Yukata said, trying to formulate a plan.

"...Did you just say that knowing we're both on camera?" Kenji asked, Yukata's eyes widening.

"Shit! Shiiiit! I didn't think about that!" Yukata said, pulling at his hair.

"You seem a lot grouchier than normal, dude. You okay?" Kenji asked.

"Well what do you want me to say!? It's been 3 days, we haven't found an exit, and I'm hungry, damn it! I want cake, is it that too much to ask for?" Yukata shouted.

"Yep! I heard that. Nice job, Yukata! Ya big loser." Monokuma announced over a monitor placed in the wall, teasing him with a singsong voice. Yukata growled and ran over, trying to punch the monitor before his face disappeared.

"I'LL PUNCH YOUR STUPID BEAR FACE IN YOUR STUPID BEAR FACE! RAAAAHGHGH!" Yukata exclaimed, Kenji just looked at him, bewildered. Yukata jumped up and down, trying to punch the monitor. He slipped on one of his shoes, and fell onto his back. "Goddamn it Kenji, am I stupid or something!? Why do I say everything I'm thinking out loud!?"

"I don't know dude, we're all hungry and tired… We're bound to screw up. Don't take it so hard." Kenji said, patting Yukata on the back. "Come on, maybe we can go hang out with Hana, see how she's holding up." he said, Yukata nodding and getting up. They headed for the Blue Hall, checking the Key Swap for the Club Key. They grabbed the key and unlocked the door and walked over to Room 5, Yukata knocking on the door.

"Hana? You there?" Yukata asked. The door opened, Hana looking drained of energy, she had bags under her eyes, and her normally tanned skin was starting to pale. Her braids were undone, leaving her with frizzy pink hair and loose hair bands hanging from it.

"Hey guys, you find an exit?" Hana asked. "Yo this lack of vitamin C is killin' me. Vitamin C does.. Lotsa things. I forgot most of them. I want orange juice."

"Doesn't Monokuma have OJ in the Rec Room?" Kenji asked.

"I didn't bring any Monocoins with me, my wallet is full of cobwebs." Hana said. "Anyway, you find a way out?" she reiterated, the two shaking their heads.

"No, sadly. None of the rooms have any exits. There's one room that might, but it's too dangerous to go inside." Kenji said, Hana groaning loudly with her head lolling back.

"Gaaaaaaaaaawd, I need to get out of here! I've been dying in here! No food, no OJ, no layups! I can't live like this, guys! We might have to bite the bullet, man…"

"What do you mean?" Yukata asked.

"X off Shiro! Nobody likes him, and he's like… the Blackened and stuff, not Reiko! Do we have anything to lose? This whole situation is pretty crappy..." Hana said.

"No, I mean about the no layups. Didn't you get a basketball when you came in?" Yukata asked.

"Yeh, but I didn't get a hoop! I can't dunk! It's like dodgeball up in here! But no one to throw at, and only one ball, so it sucks." Hana complained.

"We could always find some chalk and play four square." Kenji offered.

"Don't you ever say that in the House of Dunk EVER AGAIN! Four square is for losers! ARE YOU A LOSER, KENJI!?" Hana shouted, eyes wide in anger.

"...She's like a caricature of Hana. This is weird, dude." Yukata said, subtly stepping behind Kenji out of fear of the tiny athlete.

"Look, maybe we could make you a hoop. I sorta got the shape of it in my head." Kenji offered, but Hana narrowed her eyes to a glare that made Kenji uncomfortable.

"...45cm x 17 mm." She muttered out.

"What?" Kenji asked, not sure what she was talking about.

"That's the diameter of a regulation basketball hoop, and the width of the rim. If you get that wrong, I will eat you." She warned, pointing a finger at Kenji's chest and poking him uncomfortably hard.

"...She has to be fucking with us." Yukata said with a resigned sigh.

"'I'M DESPERATE AND I DON'T KNOW WHAT I'M CAPABLE OF!" Hana shouted, now poking hard at Yukata.

"Alright! Got it! Stop poking me!" Yukata said, backing away.

"Good! Now let's make a hoop! I will have ups!" Hana yelled, leaving her room and going down the Blue Hall. Kenji and Yukata followed after her as she crossed through the Key Swap and into the Green Hall. They made their way to the Equipment Room, Yukata unlocking the door. Inside looked a lot like Kenji's lab, littered with all sorts of tools and supplies, stacked on shelves or in cardboard boxes.

"Alright, let's see what we've got." Kenji said, reaching into one of the boxes for something to make a hoop out of. Yukata and Hana joined in, raiding boxes and climbing up shelves. Kenji would look over everything they found, giving it some consideration before either putting it in a pile or having it placed back. Soon, the three had gathered up an odd assortment of items; 5 boxes of aluminium foil, a portable electric stove, a small hammer, rope, scissors, glue, a drill and wall anchors.

"You sure this stuff's gonna make a hoop?" Yukata asked. Kenji got down on one knee, looking over all the items sitting on the small table in front of them.

"I think so… I saw a video about this once. We can fold the foil over and over to strengthen it, and we can use the stove to bend it and maybe even fuse it together with other pieces of foil." Kenji explained.

"OH! It's like welding!" Hana said with her index finger pointed up.

"Well... Really shitty welding, but it'll be enough." Kenji said, grabbing one of the boxes of foil and unrolling the first roll. Yukata and Hana followed suit, unraveling foil and carefully spreading the sheets along the floor before folding them dozens of times. Yukata had the easiest time folding the foil, finishing his sheet before Kenji was even halfway through his, grabbing the next box and unrolling the foil.

"Kenji, how many centimeters of folded foil do we need to make a hoop 45cm in diameter?"

"Uhhhhhhhhh.." Kenji realized he had to do the most painful thing in this whole Killing Game, math. At least, on an empty stomach it's the most painful thing he would have to do. "One hundred... aaannnnnnnd…" Kenji said, trying to finish the equation in his head. Hana, struggling with the constant creasing of her sheet, crumpled it up and tossed it aside, grabbing a new box

"I'm just gonna go with a lot, then." Yukata said, halfway through folding his second sheet.

"We probably need a lot of foil for the backboard, and a long, flexible rod of foil for the hoop. We'll fold one sheet really narrow, and use the stove to fuse pieces together with heat." Kenji said, finally finishing his first sheet.

"That seems like a lot of work, dude. Is it worth it?" Yukata asked.

"Damn it, Hana asked for my help and I'm going to give it. It's my thing." Kenji said, getting up and grabbing a few more boxes in case the fusion screwed up. After a half hour of folding, Kenji got the electric stove plugged in and turned on. Yukata handed him a pair of thick leather gloves, Kenji putting them on and grabbing one of the folded sheets of foil. He held the foil over the stove, slowly heating it before grabbing the small hammer. He gently struck at the heated aluminum with the hammer, slowly turning the foil into one chunkier piece. He then held the tip to the flame until it glowed a low red.

Wrapping another piece of foil around it, he joined two foils together to make a piece long enough to loop back on itself and make the rim of the hoop. "Damn, Kenji! You're the Ultimate Blacksmith or something!" Yukata said, impressed.

"I wouldn't say that. I just… thought outside the box. But now we need the net, the backboard, putting it all together, and putting it in Hana's room! But we got the hard part out of the way." Kenji said, wiping sweat from his brow. He turned around, grabbing his hammer, but suddenly felt it slip from his hand.

The hammer clanged against the concrete floor, as Kenji looked at his hands. They were both trembling as he felt a chill going through his body. "W-woah… What's happening?"

Kenji hurriedly sifted his hands along the table, feeling some of the strength from his legs begin to falter, he stumbled to catch himself, sending screws, bolts and toolboxes spilling onto the floor as well. He felt his breath grow short, so he had to stop and take a few deep breaths to calm himself.

"Kenji, you okay!?" Hana asked, sunglasses dropping from her eyes and nearly falling to the floor if it wasn't for a quick dive to one knee to catch it.

"I… I feel really out of it all of a sudden… Can either of you take over for this next part? I'll give instructions." Kenji said

"Right! Leave it to me, man." Yukata said, collecting the supplies off the floor and putting them back on the table.

"Okay. I need to sit down…" Kenji said, stumbling over to grab a folding chair and sets it down to sit on. "Alright, so what you need to do is make a big flat board of foil, something you can slap and it gives a solid 'clang.' That would be sturdy enough for a basketball to hit it." Kenji explained, Yukata nodding and turning to the table. He took two sheets of foil, carefully lining the two up with one half of the left sheet placed on top of the right sheet. He folded the right sheet in half, trapping half of the left sheet, before doing the same with the other half of the left sheet.

He carefully lined up this aluminum sandwich, making sure the folds lined up before taking it to the electric stove. Yukata heated the mock-up backboard in small chunks due to the small size of the stovetop. After heating it, Yukata took the hammer to it before returning it to the stove. The whole process became a rhythm of heat, hammer, heat, hammer, heat, hammer.

"And… done! Are… are we done with the stove?" Yukata asked, sucking in air, he was sweating buckets.

"Probably, yeah. Now we put the net on the hoop. Hana, you mind taking over?" Kenji asked, Hana nodding and grabbing the nylon rope from the table.

Hana cut the rope into smaller strands and began tying them together to make the netting. "We didn't get a lot of holes in the net, but when we did, I'd see about trying to fix it before we tossed it out. This is a bit easier since I'm starting from scratch." Hana explained as she laid out her work on the table, running her finger along it to measure the length. She would stop her knot-tying every so often to re-measure.

Finally, Hana draped the net through the hoop, tying it to the hoop and then lifting it up. The net hung nicely under the hoop, Hana smiling.

"Oh, this is some Mojo I'm feeling, boys! We've got a hoop!" Hana exclaimed, pumping her fist.

"Alright, now we just gotta put it together. Shouldn't be too hard." Kenji said, staggering from the chair. Kenji grabbed the drill and reached for a wall anchor. He carefully lined the hoop to the backboard, drilling the anchor through the back of the rim and into the backboard. To make sure it didn't move too much, Kenji also drilled more bolts at a 45 degree angle into the backboard as well, and just to top of it off, he glued the rim to the board just to make sure it stayed. "One last step. Can you grab the drill, Yukata?" Kenji asked, hoisting the basketball hoop in his arms.

Yukata grabbed the drill, Hana taking a few wall anchors. "It looks kinda crappy, but I think we did a pretty good job. It's sort of a functional basketball hoop." Kenji assessed. "I just wish we had some spray paint or something…"

"Finishing touches can wait, dude. That took at least a few hours. Let's just get it on the wall." Yukata said as they left the Green Hall. they made it back to the Blue Hall, going to Hana's room. Kenji looked over the walls, wanting to pick the right one to mount the hoop onto. They opted for the back wall, Yukata holding it in place as Kenji used the low power drill to arduously drill each wall mount into the concrete wall. The drill chugged, but slowly it began to secure in place. Kenji drilled in the last anchor, stepping back to look over the finished basketball hoop.

"And we're done. How's it look, Hana?" he asked, turning to see Hana was shaking with excitement.

"Yeeeh! This place might suck but we made it suck less! We're the best team. Team Best Team!" Hana shouted, jumping in the air. Kenji and Yukata bumped fists in celebration. "Alright! Lemme go get Setsuki! We need a fourth!" Hana said, making her way to Room 6. Kenji and Yukaa poked their heads out of the door.

"Hey, Setsuki! I got a basketball hoop! You wanna play a round?" Hana asked, pounding on Room 6's door. There was no response at first "Setsuki? You in there?" Hana asked, her excitement shifting to concern.

"Yeah, I'm here." Setsuki said after a long pause. "Is everything okay? Did someone get hurt?" she asked.

"No, everything's fine." Hana said, waiting for a response. Setsuki stepped out of her room, laughing awkwardly.

"Y'know I found the body two times already... I'm worried I'm cursed or something! If nobody's dead, sure I'll play with you!" Setsuki said, stepping out and joining them in Room 5. The students split into teams of Kenji and Setsuki playing against Yukata and Hana. The two teams played for hours, the hoop holding perfectly against every shot, throw and dunk given to it. Even when Setsuki leapt off Hana's bed to make a one-handed dunk, the backboard held tight to the wall.

Kenji, who had been letting Setsuki control the game, knew things were winding when he tried for a shot and barely got the ball into the air before it dropped to the floor. Kenji felt his knees buckle, hitting the floor. "Hah… hah… oh man… I'm exhausted." Kenji said, looking to the others to see how they were holding up. Yukata was passed out on the floor, hand on his chest. Setsuki had flopped onto the bed, beanie over her face. Hana was leaning against the wall, trying to get back on her own balance.

"Maybe basketball on an empty stomach was a stupid idea…" Hana said

"Yeah… you guys wanna get something to drink? I'll pay." Yukata said, trying to force himself back up.

"Whoo! Juice break! Juice o'clock!" Hana exclaimed, scrambling out of the room.

"Hana, wait up!" Setsuki called, grabbing her beanie as she got off the bed. Kenji went over to give Yukata a hand. Yukata grabbed his hand, Kenji helping him off the floor.

"Oh god, my legs feel like they're made of lead…" Yukata groaned. Kenji chuckled and put Yukata's arm over his shoulders.

"Come on, it's not that long a walk to the Rec Room. Let's get you some juice, stat." Kenji said. The two left Hana's room, dragging their feet through the Blue Hall as they made their way to the Rec Room.


	41. Chapter 4: Daily Life 7

Chapter 4: Persona Non Grata (Daily Life 7)

The kitchen filled with the smell of breakfast as a middle aged woman with curly hair hummed to herself, cracking eggs and pouring them onto the frying pan, the heat causing them to sizzle and solidify as she adjusted her apron around her chest so it would fit better. She looked up at the clock, it was 7:21 AM, and a monday. She sighed, flipping the eggs with her spatula as she cupped her hands over her mouth to shout up the stairs.

"Kenji! You're gonna be late for school if you don't come down and get your breakfast!" She shouted, after heading a few seconds of silence, she heard a door slam open and the sounds of scrambling feet. Kenji came roaring from his bedroom trying to get the tie on his school uniform around his neck as he nearly fell down the stairs.

"D-damn it! Mom, my phone battery died, so my alarm didn't go off!" He said, trying to leap two stairs at a time, before tripping and falling off the bottom 5 stairs. His mother rushed over and caught him the best she could, standing him back on his feet and dusting off his clothes.

"If you broke your neck on the first day of high school, I think I would be the most disappointed mother in the world…" She said with a laugh, Kenji awkwardly chuckled as he looked at the whole breakfast mom was making in the kitchen alone.

"Is dad here?" He asked, Kenji's mother letting go of her shoulders, her soft green eyes looking away from him as she walked back over to check if the eggs were cooking correctly.

"He had to stay overnight to finish some paperwork. It's weird, but his breakfast is the thing he's going to eat before bed." She continued, Kenji sighing as he looked at the time.

"Look, I know you made all this breakfast but the bus is going to leave in like.. 5 minutes. Can I have a granola bar or something?" Kenji asked, but she pointed her spatula up to her lip in thought.

"I mean, you could always have some toast on your way to school."

"...Just toast? Toast by itself sucks, mom... I swore we had pudding around here somewhere." Kenji complained, checking the pantry and scanning it over as she popped two pieces of toast from the toaster, buttering one and tossing it lightly so Kenji could catch it.

"Sweetheart, you barely made it down the stairs, I don't know if I can trust you with pudding." She said, with a hint of sarcasm in her voice. Kenji looked back at her, catching the toast in one hand and groaning.

"Oh ha ha…" Kenji said back, even more sarcastic than her. Taking a bite from his toast and turning to the door.

"Hey! If you ever meet that cute neighbor boy's mother, tell her that Sawako wants to help make a neighborhood cookout next week!" She said with a smile, Kenji just sticking more bread in his face as he marched outside.

"Cya mom!" Kenji said, muffled slightly through toast.

"Have fun at high school! Don't die!"

 _Ding dong, Bing bong_

"Goooood morning, students! Day 4 of the Hungry-thon is on! Get busy dyin' or get busy killin' Shiro!" Monokuma announced on the speaked, Kenji jumped awake and reached for the toast in his mouth, only to find there was nothing there. The room was dark, there was no indicator if the sun was up or down, and the only sound he heard was the squeak of a rusty ventilation fan. He got out of bed, and immediately fell on his face. His body had no power at all after the night before, no matter how much juice he drank, all that work the night before was a terrible idea.

Kenji felt the cold concrete against his face as he pushed against the ground in an attempt to make himself stand up, but no matter how much willpower he could muster, his body refused. "Get up… goddammit.. Get up!" He shouted at himself, slamming his fists into the concrete floor and forcing himself against his bodys will to stand up.

He stumbled over to the sink, turning it on and pouring the cold water on his head, getting his hair wet and giving him a shock to his system that was enough to shake off the last few remnants of sleep.

"Sawako… I miss mom." Kenji muttered to himself as he dragged his feet to the door, opening it and feeling the heat of old lightbulbs hitting his face. His vision doubled before quickly correcting itself, leaving him in the Green Hall. He felt something brush against his leg. Looking down, he saw the beady eyes of Kiko staring at him, her mouth open and panting.

Then Kenji heard a whistle from his right, turning to see Haru, who was calling his dog over. "Yo, Kiko! Commere, girl!" Haru called, Kiko running over and leaving behind a small envelope with Kenji's name written on it. He picked up the envelope and opened it, finding a note inside.

 _We're meeting at the library to discuss what to do about Shiro. We can't keep avoiding the subject._

 _Airi_

Kenji looked at the note, turning to Haru. "Hey, Haru. Did you get one of these notes?" Kenji asked.

"Yeah, she asked me to pass it around to everyone. I think she's frustrated about something." Haru said. "Kiko's been acting as a delivery doggo. We got everyone in the Green Hall, now we're going to Blue Hall." he explained.

"Ah, got it. I'm gonna go the library. I'll catch up with you there." Kenji said, giving Kiko a pat before he left the Green Hall. He went down the hall, stopping at the Library door and looking at the Prison door. Inside that room was the one person keeping them in the bunker. Locked underground, without food and drained of energy without hope of being found or a way to contact the outside world… if anyone was still out there looking for them. Kenji finally turned back to the Library door, opening it up and stepping inside.

Inside it looked rather desolate for a library, the shelves of books were movable and coated in dust, the walls were concrete, folding tables with reading lamps and plastic chairs to sit in. Two tables had been pushed together with eight chairs lined up, four on each side with a glass of water at each seat. Airi was sat on one side by herself, Yukata sitting across from her with Yukiji on the far right end of the other side, head buried in a pillow.

"We're still waiting on the rest. Have a seat, Kenji." Airi said, trying to maintain a calm demeanour through darkened, bloodshot eyes. Kenji nodded and sat next to Yukata, waiting for the others to show up. Setuski and Hana were next to enter, Setsuki sitting across from Yukiji while Hana sat at the far left side. Haru entered in next.

"Akira said she needed to get something before she meets up with us." Haru said, taking the seat across from Hana and setting Kiko on the table. The group waited in silence for fifteen minutes, Yukiji finally waking up and pulling his head up. The door cracked open, Akira slowly walking into the room with her hands in her pockets.

"I asked him to wait outside, he wants to hear the conversation, but didn't think it was a good idea to be in the same room as everyone else." Akira said, making her way to the one remaining chair, sitting across from Kenji. 

"I feel a debate will be necessary for the fate of Shiro, and the rest of us in this bunker. A simple vote will be held after we're done talking… Whatever the most of us decide on, is what we end up doing. Is everybody okay with that?" Airi asked, sipping from her glass of water.

"We're… debating?" Yukiji asked.

"Yes. Akira, are you sure it's a good idea to leave Shiro outside of his cell?" Airi asked.

"He's handcuffed, I have the Diamond Key, and every other key in the building is held by one of us, right?"

"I got the Heart Key." Haru said, Kiko grabbing the key from his pocket to show everyone.

"I got the Club Key!" Setsuki said, flashing the key in her hand.

"Spade Key here." Hana added, tossing her key and catching it in one hand.

"So, he won't be able to escape or do anything right now. So, the floor is open. Who wants to start?" Akira asked.

"I think Shiro should die. Not only was he guilty of murder, he's preventing our only way out of this pit." Yukata started.

"We don't know that Yukata. There could be some kind of exit in the bunker that we haven't found yet." Akira pointed out.

"If there is one, it's pretty well hidden. Yukata and I searched everywhere we could and didn't find anything resembling an exit. The only place that looks like exits are the barricaded door in the green hall, and the No Mercy Room." Kenji argued.

"Yeah, and Kiko didn't pick up anything, and she's got a good nose." Haru added, Kiko yipping in agreement.

"Then maybe we should check the No Mercy Room." Hana suggested.

"No. Absolutely not. Monokuma said that the room is dangerous and could end up with anyone going in either dead or a killer." Kenji said, shooting the idea down.

"What if it was a trick and there's nothing dangerous behind the door?" Yukata replied to Kenji's refusal.

"Didn't you say that Monokuma's words were direct? He wants us in that room, why would he want us to go to an exit?" Kenji asked, Yukata struggling to answer.

"I… I don't know, okay! I didn't get a lot of sleep last night!" Yukata shouted.

"It's okay, Yukata. None of us have been sleeping well." Setsuki said, yawning almost on cue. "I dunno about you guys, but I've been having some bad dreams these days…" she admitted.

"It's probably because of this situation we're in. Our minds have been occupied with trying to survive, trying to find a way out and just how hopeless everything is. I've been having nightmares too. Probably not the same ones as you." Akira said.

"Do yours have an evil mouse snow skiing?" Setsuki asked.

"...No." Akira said, looking confusedly at Setsuki. "Anyway, we should probably get back on topic."

"...What if we make an exit? There's tools in the equipment room, right?" Yukiji asked, Kenji sighing.

"Nothing that could make make a big enough hole for us to go through. The best we have is the drill we used to anchor Hana's basketball hoop." he pointed out. "Monokuma probably took out anything that could make an exit while we were out."

"So, you're telling us you don't think there's an exit." Airi said.

"Unfortunately, yes. Monokuma made sure of that." Kenji added, Akira sighing and taking a sip from her water.

"Look. I don't think Monokuma would leave us in here to die. He's obsessed with being entertained, remember how he freaked out when we were too depressed when Bam was killed? If he watched us rot in here, he wouldn't be happy. He's trying to bluff us, he'll let us out if we prove that we can tank his enjoyment." Akira argued.

"We have one shot of that being right, and then we're all dead. You don't know Monokuma, how can you say you know how he thinks?" Haru said.

"No one here can say they know what Monokuma is thinking, but we do have what he has said and done to work off of. Monokuma's not one to just let his victims sit around and do nothing. He's always finding ways to push us to murder. The time limit for the first murder, using our secrets in the second, the Despair Disease and now this." Airi said. "He's been leaving us be for now, but it's because he wants to break us. And if we keep holding out on him, he'll be moved to do worse."

"The regulation says Monokuma can't participate in a murder. He can't kill all of us, it's what I'm trying to explain!" Akira said, growing slightly testy.

"Yeah but… He gives us food when he doesn't have to. At least up til now, I'm pretty sure that means he wants something to happen. He messes with us when he gets bored." Setsuki countered, Akira sighing as she folded her arms over her chest.

"The regulations say Monokuma can't interfere with or assist a murder, but none of us have killed anyone so far. He's still game to force our hands." Kenji added.

"Dude. We kill Shiro, we get food, then we stick it to Monokuma. Shiro's a murderer anyways… Why is Akira protecting him?" Yukata asked.

"I'm protecting everyone! Shiro's dealt with right now, I've been keeping him company so you guys can find a way out! Justice isn't just killing people you don't like y'know!" Akira shouted.

"It isn't just because we hate Shiro, he's a killer! I don't care if you're a cop, you don't get to decide things for us. What if most of us agree Shiro deserves what's coming to him!?" Yukata shot back.

"Because if you kill him, you're just a killer yourself. I don't give a goddamn if we have to have a class trial or not. I will not turn a blind eye to injustice. If you kill Shiro, you're an enemy of the Kyoto police, and an enemy of me! We're not killing Shiro, when we escape, we can put him in jail!" Akira shouted, slamming her hands on the table.

"But we can't escape! We're stuck in here because of Shiro!" Hana chimed in.

"We'll fucking escape! Give me time. Stop trying to find ways to pin your problems on someone else. I'm just as hungry as you are, but don't you see what Monokuma's trying to do? He's trying to make us think killing each other is fine. Once we start thinking that, who knows the next person we'll vote to kill. Maybe Haru because of his dog being a second mouth to feed, maybe Kenji because he assaults people! Maybe me because I make rules all the time. Monokuma's trying to normalize betrayal! Don't be fucking fools!" Akira shouted, throwing her water on the floor.

"Nobody said we were going to do that. You're making assumptions because you're fucking paranoid. You're paranoid, and you want to be the final say in everything we do! You always pretend you're leader, but you don't know what the fuck you're doing either!" Kenji said, voice raising.

"MAYBE I DON'T!" Akira said, slamming her fist on the table. "But goddamn it I'm trying to keep everyone on the same page. Don't you see!? Killing Shiro is going to make us sacrifice each other!"

"Dude, killing Shiro gets us the fuck outta here. If we can find Monokuma and shut this down, Shiro's death will be worth it." Yukata said.

"That's what Shiro thought when he killed Akami. He thought he could escape and find help, but look where that put us, right here!"

"Akami didn't kill anyone, Akira. Shiro's a bad dude, their deaths are totally different." Haru replied, keeping his temper cool compared to Akira's passionate pleas. 

"I don't think Shiro would have killed him if Monokuma wasn't twisting our arms…" Yukiji chimed in, his meek voice barely audible over the shouting.  
"I don't care about the reason why anyone killed anyone else. Shiro was a Blackened, but the stupid class trial rules kept him alive. Stop trying to dictate people to your stupid ideals, Akira. He deserves it! You're killing all of us, you ignorant bitch!" Kenji snapped.

"Oh, don't even, Kenji! Ever since we got stuck in this school, you've been trying to rally the students to your side and it's never worked! You always trust people and it fucks you, again and again! And do you know why? It's because you're a hypocrite, man. You're buddy-buddy with people until one of them pisses you off, then they're your fucking enemy for the rest of time. You don't even care that they die until you hear their sob story. In the back of your head, you think they deserve it, don't you!?" Akira shot back, getting in Kenji's face.

"But if they're one of your people, they can do no wrong! This isn't the first time you wanted Shiro dead just to protect your own friends! Everyone still here, we all voted for Emi in the first trial because she KILLED RIO! You act like she's a goddamn saint, but she murdered someone. As soon as anyone brings that up, you go fucking berserk. Look, your girlfriend died. I get it, MINE DIED TOO! I'm trying to keep us together, but you're trying to separate the people you like from everyone else." Akira continued, Kenji clenched his fists as Akira started to feel her eyes water. 

"Shiro isn't my friend! But he doesn't deserve this pain. NOBODY DESERVES TO BE HERE! We're not here to make a fucking tribe, we're not here because there's no one else to turn to. We're here because Monokuma is ran by some dipshit who thinks he can break us! And you're letting him, Kenji!"

"I'm being realistic, you fucking moron! We're trapped in here, and you think friendships going to come down from the heavens and rescue your sorry ass. Well guess what, Akira, you're fucking wrong! Being friends with each other doesn't fucking save people. Caring about your friends doesn't fucking save people, loving someone doesn't FUCKING SAVE PEOPLE!" Kenji shouted, slapping Akira in the face.

"ACTIONS SAVE PEOPLE, AKIRA. FUCKING DO SOMETHING USEFUL!" Kenji yelled, the room going silent for a moment.

"All you're doing is digging your feet in the ground and being stubborn… 7 people died because you're too afraid to do anything but believe in others. No matter how much you try to help someone… no matter how much you tried to be a paragon of kindness, or ideals, Miho still got killed because of a stupid fucking grudge that didn't involve you anyway."

"Says the person who nearly killed our ass during the class trial. Your opinions of people are the only things you judge someone on, regardless of if it's realistic or not to believe that. Is that action, Kenji? Is action intentionally being stupid, and sabotaging everything just because your poor feelings got hurt? Is action denying the truth that your girlfriend killed someone and lied to you, to make you think it was an accident? It's fine, though! It's fine, because it's 'any' action according to your logic. Doing something stupid gets you killed, Kenji." Akira said, calmly slapping Kenji in the face.

"DO YOU FEEL LIKE BEING STUPID JUST BECAUSE YOU WANT TO BE RIGHT!? That's not how the real world works, you goddamn child!" Akira shouted back, Kenji gritting his teeth as he suddenly grabbed her by the collar and pushed her over the table, the two of them landing on the floor as he grabbed Akira by her tie.

"Stop pretending that being benevolent will save people, Akira. Nobody fucking cares! How many times do I have to tell you how little anyone gives a single fuck about us being trapped in here!? Where are the police!? Where are the military!? Where is your family!? They're not fucking here, ARE THEY!?" Kenji shouted, slapping Akira again, turning her cheek red with a handprint. "Waiting and hoping that things will be better is stupid! No one is going to follow your rules!" Kenji shouted, Akira glaring at him.

"There are no rules except for the ones A STUPID FUCKING BEAR MADE UP! And if that's the fucking rules we need to follow to escape, then God dammit I have no choice! What fucking rules are you going to use to get us out!? Is there something in your stupid fucking paperwork that negates Monokuma? NO! You fucking don't! Being a police cadet is WORTHLESS in here, so stop trying to pretend you have principles. You're killing my fucking friends! You're killing yourself! You're killing the hopes your girlfriend instilled in you! How much are you willing to lose to keep one piece of human garbage alive!?" Kenji shouted, but Akira responded by jamming her knuckle in one of his eyes to blind him, Akira taking the opportunity to tackle him to the floor instead of her.

"Don't talk about what hopes Miho had again, you motherfucker. You didn't know her… And unlike you, my girlfriend didn't kill anyone, remember?" Akira said, grabbing Kenji's hair and slamming his head into the floor.

"You BITCH! I'LL FUCKING KILL YOU!" Kenji shouted, going for her throat as Airi stood up, slamming her hands on the table and moving over to Haru.

"We need to break this up, now!" Airi whispered over to Haru on the table. Haru nodded and reached over, trying to pull Kenji's hands off Akira's neck with one arm.

"A little help here?" Haru asked, Hana and Setsuki helping to pry Kenji's hands off. Akira once free, dove onto Kenji and rained elbows on him. "Damn it! No!" Haru shouted, wrapping an arm around Akira's waist and trying to drag her away. Akira tried to break free of Haru's grip, kicking at Kenji on the floor.

"Let me go, Haru! This fucking asshole thinks he's better than everyone!" Akira screeched.

"No one's better than anybody! Calm down, Akira!" Haru said. Akira, growing desperate, tried biting Haru to get him to let go. "AHHH! AKIRA! You're acting like a lunatic! Stop it, goddamn it!" he shouted, Kiko growling and barking. Kenji stood back up, then immediately ran up and clocked the police cadet in the face. After that cheap shot, Airi trapped his arm in hers, twisting him to the ground in a martial arts style slam, ending with her knee digging against his face.

"Get the fuck off me! That bitch is attacking my friend! We're all gonna die because she's too afraid to fucking DO ANYTHING!" Kenji shrieked.

"Oh I'll fucking do something alright!" Akira said, elbowing Haru in the stomach, causing him to break his hold before charging at Kenji on the ground. Airi, with a free hand kept Kenji pinned to the floor, immediately flung her other hand at Akira, firing a round from the taser she was holding. Akira felt the two prongs hit her, as her body began to convulse from the currents, her blue hair going frizzy as well.

"A-AHHHH!" Akira shouted, the taser sending her slamming down on the floor as she reached back to try and grab the taser from her belt, only to realize it was missing. Airi had a nearly demonic glare at Akira, speaking with a cold venom to her voice.

"This stops. Now. We are all going to leave the room, this discussion about Shiro is fucking OVER." Airi said, taking the empty cartridge from the taser and throwing it across the room, before loading another one in.

"H-how did you… when did you get a taser?" Yukata asked.

"I stole it from Akira when she lunged at Kenji." Airi said.

"I didn't even fucking see that!" he exclaimed, shocked.

"I move when I have to, Yukata." Airi said, slowly pulling herself off of Kenji before chopping him in the back of the neck with a lightning quick, measured strike to knock him out.

"B-be my sister, Airi!" Setsuki exclaimed with tears in her eyes from her saving the situation in two swift moves.

"I'll have to pass Pass. We all need some time to clear our heads… Move Kenji to his room, and move Akira back in with Shiro."

"Why with Shiro…?" Hana asked, shivering from the sudden intensity in the room.

"If we moved her to her room, Shiro would be unattended. Killing him needs to be a group decision, and I don't want a lone wolf trying to decide for themselves." Airi said, taking deep breaths to shake off the adrenaline coursing through her. "Yukata, take Kenji back to his room. If he wakes up, keep him from leaving his room. If he gets out, find me. Okay?" Airi said, Yukata nodding.

"G-got it." he said, grabbing Kenji under his shoulders and dragging him off. Airi sighed and smiled.

"Thank you. Setsuki, Hana. Escort Akira and Shiro to the Prison. Leave the Diamond Key with Akira." she said, the two nodding and lifting Akira up to carry her off. She turned to see that Yukiji had vanished. "...Where's Yukiji?" Airi asked, looking around the library and soon spotting him under the table, eyes red and tear soaked.

"Uhm.. Hi. I got scared so uhh.. I hid. Y'know?" Yukiji said, sniffling a bit. "I couldn't do anything.. I'm so sorry, Airi!"

"Honestly.. I envy you for not getting involved. I wish I was able to do that..." Airi said.

"...Huh?" Yukiji said, confused. Airi looked at Yukiji, unsure of what to do now, given how little the two had interacted. She opened her mouth, but no words came out as she tried to find words that weren't her usual blunt assessments. Her thoughts were cut off by Kiko's squeaking barks as she walked under the table, nuzzling against Yukiji.

"Hey…" Yukiji said with a small smile, petting Kiko. Kiko scooted closer to his face, smiling with her little tongue stuck out. Airi sighed, crouching down to Yukiji's prone height and softly rubbing between Kiko's ears. Kiko gently rocked her head side to side, making Yukiji start to giggle.

"Uhm… Lemme take you back to daddy, Kiko." Yukiji said, opening his hands as the poofball of a dog did a small hop into his arms. Yukiji crawled out from under the table to join up with Haru, leaving Airi alone in the library. Airi waited until all noise outside went quiet and pushed herself under the table.

"Sometimes… I wish I could just hide away from all of this…" she said to herself, curling up into a ball on the floor.

"This place is a fucking nightmare..." Airi muttered to herself, as she tried her best to regain some of her composure before she left the room.


	42. Chapter 4: Daily Life 8

_Author's Note! I hope you've enjoyed reading Danganronpa XX so far, but I gotta hit the brakes real quick and put a trigger warning on the next few chapters. You may roll your eyes at that, but there's actual reasons those warnings are put in media. The next few chapters deal with the subject of suicide, and has a few gruesome moments of violence._

 _I just want to let everyone know that glorifying suicide is not an option, and the intent of it being in this story is to tell a story. If you ever feel depressed, suicidal, or worse please seek someone who can help you by searching for it online, calling a hotline, or speaking to a trusted friend. Taking care of yourself is important!_

 _On with the show!_

Everything happened so fast for Akira, a normal discussion about a heavy subject descended into a brawl with her closest friends. She felt ashamed of herself after she was escorted back to the prison cell along with Shiro. The two exchanged no words, and both decided to get some sleep. Akira wasn't even awake for more than 2 hours, and yet she felt like she needed a full night's sleep yet again.

The only problem with that, was she was sleeping on the floor. It was cold, uncomfortable and the bruises all over her body made it so no position she could sleep in was comfortable. She felt a pain in her shoulder as she forced her tired, hungry and depressed body back to life and looked around the room. There were books scattered all over the floor, some stacked higher and higher as each one approached the door. Then, Akira saw a pair of legs hanging two feet off the ground.

She looked up at the legs in her tired daze, but it only took a few seconds for her to realize what was happening. Shiro was hanging from the frame of the door, a leather belt looped around his neck, his eyes rolled back in his head. Akira began to shake, getting back to her feet and dashing over as fast as she could, knocking over dozens of books as she scrambled to get to him.

"SHIRO!" Akira shouted, grabbing his suspended body in her arms and stomping down on a few books to try and lift the weight of his body hanging from the door onto her, trying to relieve pressure on his neck. She struggled to gain her footing, reaching into her back pocket to try and find the diamond key and stop his neck from hanging from that belt.

"W-where the hell is it!? Fuck!" She shouted, using one hand to search her back pockets, but both of her pockets were empty. She suddenly had an epiphany, reaching into Shiro's pockets instead and finding the Diamond Key in his back pocket. Scrambling and almost dropping it, she stuffed the key into the lock, twisting it and opening the door.

Shiro's lifeless body dropped on top of Akira's as she fell to the floor and landed on even more books. She scrambled from underneath him, grabbing the belt looped on his neck and ripping it off of him. His face was nearly purple, and he didn't seem to be breathing. Akira began to feel her eyes cloud from tears streaming down her face as she pushed both of her hands against his breastplate, trying to apply pressure to his diaphragm and give him CPR.

"C-c'mon Kazue… You know how to do CPR! Hang in there, Shiro! I've got you!" She shouted to herself, trying to make sure her compressions weren't too fast, nor too slow. She pushed, and pushed, and eventually, Shiro arched his back and gasped for his life, some of the color coming back to his face as Akira sighed with relief.

"Shiro… Take it easy.. Breathe, okay?" Akira said with a dulcet tone, trying to make him stay calm as she realized that black leather belt was hers. She looped it back around her waist, latching it back as Shiro continued to gasp for air. Akira calmly palpated along his neck, making sure his windpipe wasn't crushed.

Satisfied with her assessment of his injuries, she climbed off of him. Shiro rolled over onto his chest and coughing loudly as he continued to feel life go back into his limbs. Akira softly sat on the floor, patiently waiting for him to calm down enough for her to talk to him, but the words Shiro would say next caught her off guard. "Damn it, Akira..."

"W-what…?" Akira asked, confused.

"Why didn't you let me die!?" Shiro exclaimed, slamming his fist on the ground as he grit his teeth as hard as he could.

"W-why were you trying to die!?" Akira shouted back, Shiro climbed back on his feet, grabbed Akira by her collar and shoved her to the wall.

"I feel like I have no other choice. You heard what they said, you heard the divide tearing you apart. If I didn't die, you would just end up killing each other like dogs!" he shouted, Akira feeling his hands shake.

"Just… There's no point in me being alive. The longer I'm alive, the more Monokuma will just make others suffer, and the more likely we're going to lose. I want this to end… I'm sick of this prison. I'm sick of these people… We've lost, Akira. Monokuma even has you fighting your friends…" Shiro continued, gritting his teeth Akira softly shoved him off of her, nearly sending him to the floor.

"So, now you wanna quit." Akira said, dismissively. "You want to give up after us arguing over if you should die? " She asked, adjusting her gloves as she crouched down in front of him.

"Shiro… I told you my plan before we got into that room, I didn't think it was going to get so violent… but I don't think Monokuma would just watch us all die, instead of kill each other. It's counterproductive." Akira replied, feeling tears on her eyes as Shiro stood back up to stare down with her

"You don't know that! The longer we wait here, the more Monokuma is going to tear us apart… And if you're so concerned about who becomes a murderer for killing me, I thought… I thought killing myself might allow the rest of you to stay together. To be able to escape from this fucking bunker." Shiro continued, but Akira just glared at him, clearly upset by this.

"I'm clearly a wedge between all of you for killing Akami. I get it, you want me to die… but seeing each of you try to find someone else to blame…? All I'm doing is suffering, and making others suffer with me. I might have been selfish, but I'm not a fucking idiot… I should have died in the third class trial."

"Shiro.. The fact you lived after being a Blackened… it is a gift for you. You managed to survive a situation nearly every other person would die in. And you're going to throw that away? For what? Because nobody likes you?" Akira said, grabbing Shiro by the shoulder. "Bullshit! Do you know why we send most people to prison instead of just killing them for committing any crime. It's because we still believe they're good people. That they can be reformed… Take this chance, Shiro. Take it! It's the only one you have!"

"And do WHAT!? Kill someone else!? Make people despise me even more!? I'm sick of people dying. Killing Akami was a planned risk, and guess what!? I fucked it up!" Shiro yelled. "I fucked it up and now everyone else has to pay for my fuck-up! And every minute I'm still alive is another minute of suffering and misery for the others! This whole situation… There never was an intention for us to leave… We're just slated to die over stupid motives and hatred. If my death can get you all on the same page, maybe there's hope."

"That is not what fucking hope is!" Akira shouted. "Hope is what drives people to keep living! To keep moving even when faced with horrible odds, horrible people and horrible situations. You lived, Shiro! It doesn't matter the circumstances, but you found yourself breathing after a class trial where by all means, you should have died. You have a chance now. USE THAT CHANCE and try to make things right! Save someone, show them that you're better than despair!"

"...Do you think they would believe me?" Shiro asked, tucking his hand in his pocket as he used the other to hold his glasses in place. "I lied to Kenji because I was selfish and wanted an out from this crazy place. I think I've used up my only chance to earn their trust. There's no exits in sight… what are we supposed to do?"

"We fix things, together... As friends, Shiro. Trust the other people, they'll get over their hangups and we can focus on beating Monokuma again." Akira said. Shiro looked to her, taking a deep breath.

"Do you really think we'll be able to work together after all this?" he asked.

"We will. I'm sure of it." Akira said with a determined look in her eyes.

 _Ding dong. Bing bong!_

"No…Is it night time?" Akira asked, concerned what it could actually mean, she was hoping the thought in the back of her head was just a moment of claustrophobic paranoia… but her sinking feeling was confirmed as Monokuma showed up on the screen.

"A body has been discovered! Ya get a few extra hours to investigate this one, but there will still be a class trial for it! All of you, meet in the medicine room!" Monokuma announced. Akira froze in place as the screen shut off. She couldn't believe what she heard… somebody had killed again and yet Shiro was still standing here. In spite of having the deck stacked so thoroughly against him, Shiro wasn't the victim this time.

"Akira…? Should we go out there?" Shiro asked, shaking her shoulder. Akira turned and reached her hand toward the unlocked door, her hand starting to tremble as she closed her eyes and tried to swallow. Shiro grabbed her wrist, guiding it to the handle of the door so she could pull it open. As soon as she did, she heard the air fill with the sound of sobbing.

Setsuki was sitting on the ground, back on the wall with her face stuffed in her beanie, soaked with tears as she muttered the same words over and over again. "Please… please no… please no…" she muttered, biting her knuckle until it was bleeding.

Airi was leaning against a wall with a dead expression in her eyes, completely immune to Setsuki's inane whimperings, but she seemed upset by what she saw as well. Yukiji was sitting on the floor near Airi's feet, hands clutched in his hair as he didn't notice Akira and Shiro step outside of the prison.

"G-guys…?" Akira asked, her voice wasn't there, she sounded meek, and tired. She got no response, so she decided to look in the medicine room herself.

Hana was slumped all the way on the back all, legs out flat and her head slumped to one side. Blood was dripping from the corner of her mouth as she stared out toward the wall with bloodshot eyes. Akira felt her heart drop into the pit of her stomach as Akira broke into a run to meet her.

"HANA!" Akira shouted, when she suddenly was tripped up by her own feet and fell on her face, sliding on the carpet a few feet as the door to the blue hall slammed open, revealing Kenji and Haru standing in the frame of the door.

"What happened!?" Kenji shouted, running down the hall with a lumbering Haru in tow, Kiko riding on his injured shoulder. Kenji ran to the door as Akira scrambled back to her feet, Kenji having a similar reaction to the police cadet, gritting his teeth and slamming his hand in the frame of the door so hard one of his knuckles split.

"Goddamnit! Not again!" Kenji screamed out, as Akira got back on her feet and scrambled over to Hana to cup her chin.

"Yoohoo~" Monokuma announced behind Akira, making her look back at him in disgust. "I'll let you investigate in a bit, but… would you care to look at the lab window, first?" He asked, Akira standing up and slowly walking over to the window in question. It was a two way window with the lab, a slot in place to slide medicines from the medicine room to the lab and back. Sitting on the other side of the window, she nearly felt her legs buckle from the pain.

Yukata was sitting against the back wall facing the window, with what appeared to be a large crossbow bolt stuck in his chest, his hands were in his lap and he was slumped against the wall with blood soaking into his coat. Akira clenched her fists until her knuckles turned white as she let out a primal scream.

Yet again, there were two murders, neither of them being Shiro. She felt her head spiral as she tried to figure out what happened.

Kenji looked around the group, seeing who was in the room. "No… No… NONONONONO!" Kenji shouted as it began to sink in just who had died before he ran over to the window, seeing Yukata's body. Tears rushed from Kenji's eyes as he yelled and pounded at the glass. "Why!? SOMEBODY TELL ME WHY!? Why!? WHY!?" He said, slowly sliding down the glass and onto his knees, sobbing.

"Oops, looks like all your friends are dead! Sorry Kenji! I didn't plan that one, no siree!" Monokuma said, cackling gleefully. Kenji slowly turned over, looking to Monokuma and seeing Shiro behind him, looking away from the Medicine Room.

"You… you sick fuck!" Kenji shouted, getting up and charging right for Shiro. Monokuma jumped out of Kenji's way, letting out a fwoosh sound effect.

"Style dodge~" Monokuma exclaimed, hitting a ridiculous pose mid-dodge. Kenji charged at Shiro, immediately punching him in the face with no warning.

"I FUCKING KNEW IT! I knew we should have killed you, Yukata was fucking right! How dare you kill again!?" Kenji screamed, reeling back his fist and struck Shiro again.

"I had NOTHING to do with this, Kenji! You're acting irrational. And stop hitting me, damn it!" Shiro said wincing at the punches and rolling his head to the side, but grabbing Kenji so he wouldn't stumble over.

"LIKE FUCK you had nothing to do with it! You're a killer, we proved it for fucks sake!" Kenji exclaimed, pulling back his fist again.

Eventually, Airi stepped in to Shiro's side, Akira standing back up and staring blankly at the three of them. "We're supposed to be investigating, Kenji. Save your wrath, you've clearly lost focus." she said calmly.

"We don't need to fucking investigate anything! Shiro's here, and he ruins fucking everything!" Kenji shouted. He went to strike Shiro a third time before Airi grabbed his arm, her grip was tight enough to stop him from throwing a punch, Airi was stronger than she looked.

"Kenji, Shiro was locked in his cell since we came in here. There is no chance of him getting out and doing this. We aren't going to get anywhere if we point fingers without evidence." Airi said. "We need to investigate these murders and find out just what happened or else we could all die down here."

Kenji stood there, seething and eyes red from both the tears and the anger. "There could have been a chance! Shiro could've have stolen the key while Akira was unconscious!" he said, Akira shaking her head.

"No… no… He… He was doing something else. I… I don't think he could have done this." Akira said, looking away from Shiro as she spoke.

"Like what!?" Kenji shouted in response, but Akira refused to say anything, to break the silence, Monokuma 'style dodged' between the two of them.

"Before the investigation! Lunch. Mochi n' milk for everyone! If you're lactose intolerant, too bad!" Monokuma announced, several other copies of him presenting silver cloches of Mochi and cartons of milk to go with them. "Oh yeah… There's a body in here we might wanna move the lunch somewhere else." Monokuma said, the Monokumas carrying the food away. The still-living students all looked to each other, an unease in the air. Another two of their number had fallen in the midst of their biggest schism as a group to date, and at least one of the students in this building orchestrated it.

Kenji walked away from the others, gazing at the floor. "Let's go, Haru… it's just us now…" he said, voice cracking. Haru followed after him, putting an arm around his friend's shoulder.

"Let's just get food, Kenji… We'll figure this out, okay?" Haru said Kenji nodding and leaning into Haru, Kiko jumping onto Kenji's head and resting there as they walked out of the Blue Hall. Airi walked over to Setsuki, offering her a hand.

"Setsuki? You gonna be alright? Can you move?" she asked, Setsuki lifting her head up.

"Yeah…" Setsuki said, taking Airi's hand. Airi helped her up and the two walked off, leaving the Medicine Room.

Akira walked over to Yukiji, who was silently rocking on the floor, and sat next to him, wrapping an arm around his shoulder and letting him lean against her. "It's gonna be okay, Yukiji. We're gonna make it out of this…" she said to reassure him and herself.

"How many more of these have to happen…? I thought we were done..." Yukiji said, voice barely a whisper.

"It's gonna end here, Yukiji. I promise." Akira said, pulling herself up off the floor, guiding Yukiji with her as they walked out. Shiro stood alone in the Medicine Room, feeling an immense weight on his shoulders. Everything that happened here, the entrapment, the starvation, the violence, the death, the despair… it was all his fault. He was the cause, every single event that had happened after Akami's death, he was the epicenter of suffering, radiating hate throughout any person he seemed to touch, hated of him, hatred of each other, and hatred of himself.

The fact he was still alive, for yet another unsolved murder when he really should have died during the last class trial, the fact that every single thing about this was to turn Shiro into a demon for every other student, and Monokuma's constant goading to kill him would end in his death.

Yet, he was still alive, and he didn't understand why. All he understood was that he had to solve this murder, figure what happened here and why.

Shiro was ready to turn around for something to keep him from fainting, when he saw a sight that gave him a chill. The wall opposite to Yukata had writing on the wall, written with what Shiro guessed was blood.

 **Nobody Wins**


	43. Chapter 4: Deadly Life 1

Chapter 4: Persona Non Grata (Deadly Life 1)

Lunch was a silent affair, but Akira tried her best to gather information from those who were struggling to cope with what just happened, the first person she would deal with was Setsuki, who sat alone in the corner of the key exchange with her food, chewing uninterestedly at the rather sweet tasting food.

"Setsuki?" Akira asked, Setsuki looked up at the source of the voice, her eyes were clouded over and her skin was flushed of color, making her much paler looking than Akira was used to.

"Anh..?" Setsuki muttered out, sluggishly. Akira sighed and sat next to her, Akira's pint of milk in her right hand as she looked over at her.

"Is it okay if I asked if you remember what happened when you found Hana?" Akira asked, her voice tender and unaggressive to try and deal with the sensitive Setsuki. Setsuki just reached up and slid her beanie off her head, her disheveled silver hair falling to her shoulders as she looked at the wall.

"I…" Setsuki muttered out, but just felt tears soak her face as she bit her lower lip in frustration. "I… I…" Setsuki continued to mutter. Akira just looked at her and softly rubbed a hand on the back of her head.

"Just try and keep it together, Setsuki… I'll ask you again at the trial, okay?" Akira said, but Setsuki immediately slapped herself in the face, and shot up to her feet.

"I'm sick of people dying, Akira! I just… why? What's the point in lying to people!? I thought we were all friends!" Setsuki cried out, her eyes closed as her tears continued to pour down her face.

"I don't know, Setsuki… But it happened." Akira said, calmly standing back up onto her own feet as Setsuki threw her hat on the ground.

"Hana… Hana was my friend, Akira! She didn't hurt anyone! I don't understand! She had nothing to do with anything that was happening!" Setsuki continued to cry out, her hands digging into her own hair as Akira continued to feel like as she couldn't help.

"I couldn't do anything to help, it's just like Bam, and Rio, and Akami… I'm too fucking stupid to save my own best friends! Most of the time, I don't even know they're in danger. This is all my fault!" Setsuki continued to cry, turning to the wall and slamming her forehead into it, Akira's jaw was agape as she softly reached up to hold Setsuki by her shoulder.

"Why do I always have to rely on other people to save me!? As soon as the Class Trial starts, I'm hopeless… You always seem to have the right ideas, Akira, but what if we're wrong!?" Setsuki continued, pressing her face into her forearm as the tears began to hurt her eyes.

"Setsuki, please… It hurts to see you like this." Akira said tenderly, softly squeezing Setsuki's shoulder for support, despite Setsuki not reacting to it.

"What else am I supposed to do!? I'm fucking useless!" Setsuki shouted, throwing her hand to the side and turning to Akira, who suddenly grabbed Setsuki in her arms. Akira pulled tight, giving her the hardest hug she could muster.

"You're never useless, Setsuki…" Akira muttered out, tears streaking down her face as the two girls embraced. Setsuki buried her shoulder into Akira's and began to sob uncontrollably. "Just because you aren't the type to argue or gather evidence doesn't mean you're useless. You're a good person, and an even better friend." Akira continued, a hand resting on the back of Setsuki's head.

"Just... Believe in us, okay? We can do it." Akira said reassuringly Setsuki nodding gently as Airi watched the two of them. Akira broke the hug, letting Setsuki sit back down as the spy addressed her.

"I feel like we need to deal with Kenji's aggression issues before we investigate, or we'll walk into the trial with little to no information. Do you want to talk to him, or should I?" Airi asked.

"You talk to him. There's no way he's gonna want me near him. Just try to get him to focus on the task at hand, I'll try avoiding him otherwise." Akira said, Airi nodding and walking over to Kenji and Haru.

With Kenji distracted, Akira focused on getting more information from the people willing to talk to her. Next up was Yukiji, who was busy trying to chew through a wall of extremely doughy mochi in his hand.

"This thing is like I'm chewing a giant ball of gum…" Yukiji complained to himself, Akira stuck a hand in her pocket and looked down at him.

"Monokuma probably left it in the fridge too long… All the moisture went into it and now it's just a bunch of dough." Akira said. "Yukiji, do you remember anything that happened before you found Hana?" she asked, Yukiji taking a bite of mochi before answering.

"Well, Airi wanted to make more appetite suppressant, so she asked me and Setsuki to help her. Airi went in first. I heard her gasp. Setsuki was asleep, so she was a little late, and I went to get her. When all three of us entered, the body discovery went off. Then you and Shiro showed up." Yukiji explained.

"Which body did you see first?" Akira asked.

"Hana's.. Uhm.. I didn't see Yukata's until you saw it." Yukiji said.

"That's weird, why wasn't there a body discovery for Yukata?" Akira wondered.

"I forgot! My bad. Lemme fix that now." Monokuma said.

 _Ding Dong, Bing Bong_

The monitor flicked on as a Monokuma scrambled into the spinning chair, spinning for a bit before coming a stop. He grabbed the glass of wine set on the chair, but immediately stumbled and dropped it before speaking. "A body's been discovered, investigate the murder and we'll have a trial, yadda yadda… You get it." the Monokuma said, spinning his wrist as he talked. The monitor shut off, everyone watching with stunned expressions.

"How do you forget that!?" Akira asked, incredulous.

"I wasn't paying attention, okay!? What do you want, a plot dump? I forgot to mention it. IT HAPPENS TO EVERYBODY!" Monokuma shouted, grabbing a handful of mochi and throwing it at the wall. "Now go investigate these murders! Here's the Monokuma Files! Leave me alone!" he raved, slamming the files onto the table on a plate of mochi.

"NOW WE HAVE MOCHI ON THE MONOKUMA FILE! This is your fault, Akira!" Monokuma said with an accusing finger.

"Aren't the Monokuma Files uploaded to our Monopads?" Yukiji pointed out.

"These are the physical copies of the files! It's so no one messes with 'em! And you're gettin' your goop on them!" Monokuma shouted.

"You're the one who threw them on the mochi! You gooped them, Monokuma!" Akira shot back.

"BAH! I ain't got time for this! I'm missing my shows, and you're all being stupid! Clean the mochi! Investigate the murder! Leave me alone!" Monokuma exclaimed before leaving the room.

"Agh, he's giving me a headache…" Akira said, rubbing her temples. "Anyway, it sounds like yours and Airi's stories do match up, I just need to check one more thing." she said turning to the group.

"Everyone, before we begin investigating, I need to know who has which key! I still have the Diamond Key! It's the key for the Prison and the Library." Akira said, pulling the key from her pocket.

"I have the Club Key. It goes to the Blue Hall, and the Equipment Room." Airi said, putting a hand in her pocket.

"I had the Heart Key for the Green Hall, but it went missing. Kenji and I needed to beg Monokuma to let us through the Green Hall to the key swap." Haru explained, Kenji grumbling in annoyance at being reminded of that.

"And when I found the body, I unlocked the Blue Hall so Kenji could get in." Airi said. Akira nodded and waited for someone to say they had the Spade Key, only to be met with silence for some time.

"...Does anyone have the Spade Key?" Akira asked, getting headshakes.

"So, the Heart and Spade Keys are missing... " Airi said, putting a hand to her chin in thought.

"Right, I have the Diamond Key, you have Club and Haru had Heart but it went missing and none of us have Spade. We gotta keep that in mind while we check things. Now, let's get going.. We need to investigate the murder scene." Akira said, marching out of the room and down the Blue Hall. The remaining students followed her, with Kenji and Haru going last.

Akira entered the Medicine Room, trying not to look at Hana's body as her eyes scanned the room. There was a crossbow sitting on the small desk on the window between two rooms, being held in place with a clamp. Akira grabbed the side of the crossbow, gently tugging on it to see how sturdy it was clamped down against the table. It didn't budge an inch as Akira tugged and tugged.

"Hrm… it's in there tight…." Akira observed, turning to the rest of the room as the others joined her, Kenji looking over Hana's body.

"Kenji, are you sure you should be investigating?" Akira asked, Kenji looking up at her with a glare.

"What's that supposed to mean?" he asked, annoyed.

"This is your friend, Kenji. Maybe you shouldn't investigate, being this close might upset you." Akira said, concerned.

"I can handle this. I'm not gonna just stand around like a deer in the headlights like you did." Kenji said acidly.

"What's your problem, Kenji!? I thought we were done arguing after we both got our asses kicked." Akira said, taken aback.

"My problem is you getting my friends killed. If you hadn't kept protecting Shiro, we'd be out of this bunker! Hana and Yukata died because of you!" Kenji shot back.

"Kenji, what has gotten into you?! You were the one who stood up for Shiro when we got locked in here!" Akira shouted.

"I feel like we're gonna be here a while." Yukiji muttered to Setsuki. Setsuki nodded, looking away as Kenji and Akira got in each other's faces. Airi moved in between them, holding them back with one hand each.

"I'm getting sick of your attitude, Taisei! You just want everyone to be wrong! If anything bad happens, it's someone else's fault!" Akira yelled.

"And you just want to boss people around! You don't want me investigating because I'm not one of your hand-picked people!" Kenji shot back, pushing against Airi's hand.

Shiro shook his head, walking out of the Medicine Room with a quiet sigh before things got uglier. "This investigation has come to a crashing halt, if we're going to survive this Class Trial, I'll need to conduct the investigation on my own…" he said to himself. "But where do I go first?"

"The rooms… Maybe someone left something in their room that can explain just what happened here." Shiro stated, slowly wandering the blue hall as the sounds of arguing grew distant. He started with Akira's room, since it was the closest one to the prison. While he didn't expect there to be anything that could be used as evidence, he felt like being thorough.

The room was barren, with only the bed and the nightstand on the right, the bathroom door on the left and a ventilation fan on the back wall. On the nightstand was a book that Akira most likely got from the library, strangely, a book on the Daodejing, an old chinese philosophy book.

"I sort of figured that Akira's room isn't suspicious, but I would kick myself if I didn't check anyway…" Shiro mused, checking inside the nightstand and finding Akira's taser and two cartridges. He checked the bed; nothing under the sheets, the pillows, the mattress or the bed itself. "Well, that clears Akira." he said, leaving the room.

He went to Room 7 next. Hana's room. He stopped at the door and checked the Monokuma File to see what he should be looking for in there, since she was one of the victims.

 _Monokuma File #6  
Hana Okamoto  
Time of death: 4:11 PM  
_

 _Has a large bruise across her neck, and has subsequently bitten her own tongue. The most likely fatal injury is major bleeding in the brain, along with bloodshot eyes._

He took in the information before switching to Yukata's.

 _Monokuma File #5  
Yukata Watanabe  
Time of death: 4:08 PM_

 _Has a large crossbolt embedded in his chest puncturing his right lung. Also has signs of a poison that caused Cardiac Arrest. There also appears to be a small slice on his forearm. There are also large bruises on both wrists._

He nodded and switched off his Monopad, entering Hana's room. Inside was a crudely-built basketball hoop made of aluminum hooked the the back wall with. "That is the ugliest thing I have ever seen... " Shiro said, grimacing before checking the rest of the room.

On the nightstand near the bed was a small glass of water, drank halfway. Shiro walked over to the nightstand, seeing an opened white packet behind the glass, looking like a sugar packet. Shiro picked up the packet, seeing small text on it, that was sadly muddied by some spilled water on some parts.  
 _  
Mon_ Dead_ P_, Takes effect after _ minutes, soluble in _ can cause __

"P…. Is this a poison? If it takes effect after several minutes, and is soluble in water…" He said, taking the packet, tapping a few times to see the white powder drop into the drink, he took a nearby spoon, stirring it until it disappeared in the water. He even leaned down to smell it.

"It's completely scentless… This is some seriously dangerous poison… Cyanide smells like almonds, and arsenic smells like garlic. But this one stirs clear, and you can't even tell you drank it. Either that, or this is the worst branded artificial sweetener I've ever seen." Shiro assessed, setting the glass down and looking around the rest of the room.

He checked her bed next, the covers were off the bed and exposed the futon underneath, and the pillow was on the floor. He grabbed the sheets, dragging them off the bed and getting on his hands and knees to look underneath of it. Underneath the bed was a basketball, and a large silver box encased in shadow. He reached out for it, feeling a handle and pulling it out.

It was a silver case with black lining, with two latches on it to secure it closed. He popped both latches and opened it. Inside, there were various decks of cards on one side, and a rather large amount of Monocoins on the other.

"Monocoins…?" He said, inspecting a coin, before looking back into the case. "And cards…. This has to be Yukata's case." Shiro surmised, removing each card from the deck to see if he could find a clue, yet all he found was decks of cards in their sleeves. He stood back up, looking around the room one final time to see if there was a glint of something he missed. Yet, he could find nothing, and he moved on to Airi's room.

Airi's room was neat, with well made beds and a small chemistry set sitting on her end table. "A chemistry set…" Shiro muttered, walking up to it and softly inspecting the phials of fluid in each beaker. "I.. I have no idea what chemicals these are." He said, noting that each one seemed to be blank, instead of the beakers and vials having the names, the chemical names were on the small bottles next to the burner.

"Dextromethorphan, Diethylpropion… Fuck, I don't know what any of these do." Shiro complained, sighing and setting them back down, immediately deciding that the rest of the room would probably not garner anything. He then checked the bed, after sifting his fingers along the sheets of the bed, he felt something cold when he hit the pillow. He dug underneath it, and grabbed what was hidden under the pillow.

Shiro was holding the Heart Key. "The missing Heart Key is in Airi's room…?" Shiro asked aloud. "Didn't Haru say he had it? Why would Airi take it? Or did Haru give her the key? This is… concerning." Shiro said aloud, before sifting the room to find anything else.

He found nothing, and moved to Setsuki's room. It was a mostly empty room like Akira's, but it had writing on it with a sharpie that just said 'Only losers need helmets - Monokuma.' Shiro just sighed at that, shook his head and walked his way out the door.

Once he was satisfied, he asked himself a question that.. Only had one answer, but he was afraid to even ask it. "Where did the culprit get a crossbow?" He wondered, before his eyes drifted to the black and red door, written with the words 'No Mercy Room' Shiro felt a chill down his spine as he walked up to the door.

"...I told myself that I would help Akira as much as I could, now that I have another shot at saving the rest of the students. But… should I go in here? Will I die in vain…?" He wondered aloud, grabbing the knob and feeling his heart skip a beat as he tried to open the door.

"I… I have to do it." Shiro said, grabbing his wrist, pushing the knob and opening the door so he could walk inside.


	44. Chapter 4: Deadly Life 2

Chapter 4: Persona Non Grata (Deadly Life 2)

"Welcome to the No Mercy Room, Shiro Kiruma!" Monokuma announced over the speaker as Shiro looked around the room. The walls were dark and dingy, with words written on the walls relating to puzzles that he had yet to complete. "Allow me to explain what's gonna happen here… You have 1 hour to complete the puzzles and figure out the 4 digit code for you to exit this room. If you don't complete this in an hour, you will be executed. There will be puzzles that test your mettle and your wits! So good luck!" Monokuma announced, as Shiro adjusted his glasses, and took a deep breath.

"If you complete these puzzles, you get up to 5 prizes! Or, alternatively… You can use Monocoins to skip the room and pick 5 prizes, 100 Monocoins each!" He added, that last part made Shiro extremely confused.

"I can… skip the puzzles for Monocoins!?" Shiro shouted, confused. Monokuma nodded a few times from a monitor in response. "Why build a puzzle if you can skip it with Monocoins!?" Shiro shouted in response.

"I needed to use them for something. Why would I make a fake currency if I didn't have a use for it?" Monokuma answered with a laugh. "To explain the prizes, exit the room and I'll tell you how to get your rewards. That's the last help you'll get from me! Figure out the puzzles or grab some Monocoins, peace!" Monokuma bid farewell, leaving Shiro alone with a clock counting down from an hour.

"Alright, Shiro… think. What should be the first thing I should do?" Shiro asked, looking around the room. The first thing he spotted was a TV it was off, and had a set of buttons on it from 0 to 9 on it. Every few seconds, it would blink on for a millisecond, then it would turn back off. The 0 button itself had fallen off the TV, leaving the numbers of 1-9.

"1...2...3…" Shiro said to himself, counting the blinking of the TV, this was followed by a gap, so he counted again. "5...6...7." He added, walking up to the TV and pressing the number 37. The channel switched to a smiling picture of Monokuma, who was holding up 3 fingers.

"You're gonna want to back away from this one." Monokuma announced on the screen, his fingers quietly withdrawing from 3, 2, 1 and finally 0. The TV suddenly exploded, sending glass all over the floor and leaving Shiro to flinch.

"W-what the!?" He shouted, slowly walking up to the destroyed CRT tv and slowly reaching his hand into the broken vacuum tube. He felt around the shards of broken glass, before feeling a key graze across his fingers that he could grab. He grabbed the key, and looked around the room.

On the right, near the entrance was a computer desk with a small laptop on it, and 4 different drawers, each one locked with a different key. He ran over, and then tried to use the key on each drawer to try and open it. He looked back at the TV, revealing he still had 56 minutes left to solve the room.

He opened the drawer with the key he got from the broken TV, and used it to open a drawer that contained a small blacklight. He picked up the blacklight and inspected it… It had no battery pack in the back, rendering it useless for now. He sighed, turning back to see if he could find anything else in the room he could use to power the blacklight.

He saw a box sitting on a table with a chair, a piece of paper saying 'Sit here' and an arrow pointed to the box, and a strange helmet with a large rectangular visor. He went over to sit in the chair, Monokuma showed up on the monitor.

"The rest of the puzzles explain themselves, but this keybox is unlocked by rolling a steel ball bearing along a maze track into its final position to unlock! Here's the kicker, if you try to solve the puzzle, you have to wear that helmet on your head! After 8 minutes, it'll stab a needle right into your eye!" Monokuma warned.

"Wh-what?!" Shiro exclaimed, eyes wide.

"Hey, I had to add some risk to this thing. Now get that key!" Monokuma said, the monitor shutting off. Shiro sighed and put on the helmet, putting the box in his lap. The helmet obscured his sight of the room, the needle hovered about 1 cm from his eye, which was distracting, but he decided to just look at the small wooden box in front of him. He softly sifted it up and down, feeling the marble rolling in the bottom left of the box through the vibration in his fingers. As he sifted the ball, numbers lit up on the visor, showing the time he had to complete the puzzle, seconds going down quickly.

He failed over and over again, much to his frustration, there was a hole somewhere in the maze that made the ball roll all the way back to the beginning. He had to keep remembering each direction he moved the ball in, and recall them in order to see which ones he was messing up. Eventually, he got near the end as a minute began to count down. "You can do it… c'mon… This can't wait!"

With only seconds to spare, he felt the ball drop into its final resting place, he opened the drawer to see the key, he took it out, but the helmet continued to count down to 0. He took it off his head and was ready to throw it, when the needle pierced through his palm and came out the other side with a spurt of blood. Shiro screamed out in pain, as he reached down and struggled to get the needle out of his hand.

Shiro forced the needle out, throwing it on the floor in anger "I beat the game! Why didn't the countdown stop?!" Shiro yelled at the monitor.

"I was short on time! If you were able to complete it faster, it wouldn't stab you in the hand!" Monokuma said. Shiro growled and ripped off a sleeve of his shirt, wrapping it around his wounded hand. He ran back to the drawers, trying the key in each drawer. Once he unlocked the drawer, he found the batteries for the blacklight and a deck of playing cards. He put the batteries into the blacklight, clicking it on and shining it on the entire room.

On the wall there were glimpses of strange shapes and angles, but when he moved closer, the shapes became letters.

'In Solitary Company' was written on the wall in front of him. Shiro thought about what that meant, looking down at the deck of cards. He softly sifted his thumb along each card to see if he could feel something strange about them, but he couldn't find anything. On a hunch, he decided to shine the blacklight on the deck as well. The card he was looking at, displayed the ace of hearts, and shined the number 1. He then looked at the King of the Heart suit, this one having the letter N.

"This has to match up, since they both required the blacklight. In Solitary Company… Is that a pun? Goddamnit..." Shiro said, wiping some of the blood from his injured hand off of the card he was holding, so it wouldn't stain the card. "I guess… he wants me to play solitaire with these?"

"Yes! And to make things funner… I'm going to give you a physical challenge! It's like that one show, with the slime and the paranoid host!" Monokuma announced, Shiro glaring over at the screen he was on.

"Pretty sure whoever else is watching this won't get that… But what kind of physical challenge did you have in mind?" Shiro asked, begrudgingly.

"Did I ever say someone else was watching this?" Monokuma asked evasively.

"You used hashtags in the second class trial for 'the audience' so I assume someone is watching this garbage." Shiro pointed out.

"That was petty. Just for that, I'll make this challenge harder! You have to press a button in the room every 27 seconds, or the room will explode! And just because you're being a wiseass, you don't get to see the clock, and have to guess when 27 seconds will be coming up!" Monokuma announced, the timer of 48:25 faded into static.

"Goddamnit…" Shiro muttered, turning back to the cards and slowly looking around the room to see where the button would be. Specifically, a statue of Monokuma on the coffee table holding up a killer whale, as it to try and piledrive it. Shiro ran over and felt for a hinge, pulling it open and revealing a red button inside the head of the whale. Shiro quietly kept counting to himself as he sat on the floor, and laid the cards in a spread as he kept the blacklight in one hand. 

The fact he had to count in the back of his head at all times made actually sifting through the cards difficult, because every ticking second felt like the pivotal one to hit the button. He finally got to 27, and hit the button to activate it… after a second, he heard a beep that he was correct. He took a deep sigh as he went back to hastedly arranging the cards in suits 1-4, and from Ace to 10 to 2, despite having to count in his head and prevent from the room from exploding.

He only got a quarter way done before he felt 27 appear again, meaning he had to hurriedly hit the button, to another beep. Shiro almost had it to a rhythm at this point, going between hitting the button and arranging cards, though beads of sweat were dripping down and fogging his glasses, meaning he had to take them off and clean them until the moment he realized he made a mistake.

"The button! Goddamnit!" He shouted, glasses in hand as he shunted his shoulder against the button this time, sounding a beep that he timed it correctly. The statue fell off the table, and he had to throw his glasses aside, and catch the statue in his hands so the button wouldn't trigger and explode the room. Shiro slowly pulled the statue back upright, taking in heavy breaths. He turned back to the cards, finally getting them all arranged.

Shiro shined the blacklight on the cards, reading the arrangement in order: PRQRNXPD SOXVKLH FRQWLDQV FDPHUD. "This… this is just nonsense." Shiro said, hitting the button again and hearing the beep. He pored over the jumbled letters, gripping his wounded hand to try and staunch the bleeding as he thought them over. He'd stop to hit the button as he tried to decode the message, shining the blacklight on the room for any possible hints. He soon found a hint.

 _Et Tu Brute_

"Et Tu Brute… Et Tu Brute, Then Fall Caesar… aha! It's a Caesar cipher! All the letters are shifted forward!" Shiro said, looking at the cards again, before hitting the button around the time he thought was correct.

"Caesar would issue his orders by shifting the letters forward three times to confuse people who didn't speak latin as well… What happens if I shift these back by three?" Shiro thought aloud, feeling the blood coat his fingertips. He used the blood to write the backshifted letters next to each card, hitting the button with his other hand. He wrote quickly, remembering that he had an hour to complete the No Mercy Room, and soon he had the real code: MONOKUMA PLUSHIE CONTAINS CAMERA.

"Monokuma plushie contains camera? What Monokuma plushie? Camera?" Shiro asked, pulling back and hitting the button. He looked around the room, seeing a bed tucked away in the corner with a Monokuma plushie resting against the pillows, the plush Monokuma about the same size as the real one, though its eye wasn't glowing. He looked for a way to tear the plushie open.

He looked around, going between his search for a cutting object and hitting the button. He thankfully found a pair of scissors under the bed's pillow. Holding the Monokuma plushie with his wounded hand, he used his other hand to carefully cut into the plush. He methodically decapitated the Monokuma plush, head dropping onto the mattress. Shiro reached his hand into the massive amount of stuffing until he felt something plastic graze the back of his uninjured hand, he pulled out a digital camera with no batteries, there was an SD card in the side of it, but no batteries.

Shiro looked to see that the camera took the same batteries as the blacklight and quickly switched the two, turning on the camera. When the camera turned on, the screen showed an image of Monokuma holding up a sign with words written on them, balanced on each hand.

 **COMPARE**

 **CONTRAST**

Shiro looked at the picture, trying to see if there were any other pictures on the memory bank, but they were all copies of the same photo. He went back to the first, looking at the two words when his thumb slipped, turning the contrast dial down. "Ah! There we go! Contrast…" he said, turning the contrast up to the highest point and moving over to the next photo. A new word appeared on the photograph in the heightened contrast.

 **SONGBIRD**

"Songbird…" Shiro muttered. The picture was of the doorway he was looking at, what appeared to be the exit. The keypad was jury rigged from an old phone dial pad, with each letter nearly worn off the phone. 2 had ABC, 3 had DEF, and so forth, each one being more and more faded until the last 5 buttons, which had nothing. Shiro looked at the camera again, seeing the word SONGBIRD and snapping his fingers.

"Ah, there we go! I have to type in the numbers for 'Songbird' on this. So, that would mean…" Shiro trailed off as he pressed 7 four times, followed by six five times. He continued typing out the numbers, the keypad reading 7777666664224447773 by the end. The keypad beeped in confirmation as the door clicked open. Shiro stepped through the doorway, checking how much time he had left. He had nearly half an hour left, so he took a sigh of relief as he entered the next room.

The room was dark, with a single desk sitting on the corner of the room, the wall had words spray painted onto it.

 _A Lone King has the world in his hand, and has bestowed each of his five sons a gift._

 _The first, gained a legendary weapon from the king's armory. The second got a vial of poison that can kill within an hour, the third got an invisible, unbreakable thread of diamond, the fourth got a key that could unlock any door, and the fifth received the truth of the world._

 _Sit in your throne, and make a decision._

Shiro sighed, sitting in the chair as a compartment rolled out in front of him. It was a guillotine used to slice large amounts of paper. Along with it, there was a frame with 5 holes in it, and a small, portable TV.

"You made it through the room, Shiro! If you want to receive your gifts… You have to lose each finger associated with that gift. Stick your fingers in the hole, and get choppin, I'm not letting you leave without you making this decision, kaay?" Monokuma announced on the screen, suddenly a belt wrapping around Shiro's waist and forcing him to the desk as he felt the hair on the back of his neck stand up.

"M-my fingers..? This has to be a joke." Shiro spat out.

"I'm not kidding, you moron. If you want to pass the No Mercy Room, you have to cut your own fingers off. At least one of them!" Monokuma exclaimed, pointing his index finger toward the ceiling to taunt Shiro.

"Did… did the person who killed Yukata and Hana have to do this?"

"No, they skipped this part too, that's why I want you to do it… You don't have an out, so you have to do what I say! Chop. Your. Goddamn. Fingers. Off. Got it!?" he warned, red eye glowing. Shiro growled, looking at the frame.

"Which… finger should I cut off?" Shiro said, not believing the things he had to ask himself. "The.. the thumb is probably the first one, and that would get me a weapon… But I know the murder weapon was a crossbow." he said, thinking over his choices.

"I know a poison was used in one of their deaths, from that poisoned water… That won't help me either." Shiro said, looking at his index finger.

"An invisible string… that's unbreakable? That could have been what Akira tripped over when she ran in the room to get Hana… " He continued, switching to his middle finger.

That left two sons to consider. "The key that will unlock any door… or the truth of the world. Will the truth tell me why they killed someone? There might be a room you can only use this special key on, that might have more evidence." He said, looking at his ring, and pinky fingers. He pushed himself against the desk, to try and force himself up, but another belt slipped from the chair and grabbed his wrist, slamming it back to the desk as he tried to pull away.

"G-Goddamnit!" Shiro gasped out.

"Do it, Shiro. You wanted the truth, didn't you? You came to find the truth, didn't you!? Cut your fingers off, show everyone your tenacity to solve the damn case! Cut your fingers off! It's the only way out of here alive! Remember when you tried to kill yourself!? Live through this suffering, or die like a goddamn coward!" Monokuma said, trying to goad Shiro into losing fingers.

"I… I…" Shiro said, hand quivering in hesitation.

"Oh, you were wasting my time. Maybe you were just a coward then, Shiro. You were right. Maybe you should just kill yourself." Monokuma taunted. Shiro's eyes hardened as he looked at the monitor.

"I… I am NOT A COWARD!" he shouted, shoving his pinky finger into the frame along with his ring finger. He grabbed the handle of the swing guillotine and started to take heavy, panicked breaths as he squeezed so hard that his knuckles turned white.

"Ya suuuure? You sure seem to back down like a coward." Monokuma said, chuckling while covering his mouth.

"GO FUCK YOURSELF!"" Shiro shouted, slamming the blade down over his two fingers and completely severing them in a massive gush of blood all over the desk. The pain was delayed with adrenaline as the belts released from his body. He felt the most shocking pain from his life reverberating up his hand into his very soul.

He stood up, now free of two of his fingers, blood pouring from the wounds and staining his suit pink with blood. He released a blood curdling shout of pain and horror until he felt his voice giving out, blood splattering on the floor as he felt his head spin in spirals and spirals of pain and confusion, forcing him to lean against a nearby wall for support.

Monokuma was having a riot of a laugh, laughing non stop since Shiro told Monokuma to go fuck himself.

"I WANT MY PRIZE! GIVE ME MY GODDAMN PRIZE!" Shiro screamed out, eyes bloodshot from a primal anger welling up inside him. Suddenly, the door in front of him unlocked, revealing the bright glow of fluorescent lights.

"I can't believe you did something that stupid! Good job, Shiro! I guess you get your two prizes in the next room. C'mon in!" Monokuma announced, trying to stifle his laughter before he ran out of breath. Shiro grabbed his coat, throwing it off his body and stuffing his bleeding stumps for fingers into the coat, soaking it even more with blood as he tried to stifle the bleeding before anemia seeped in.

Shiro grabbed the handle of the door, forcibly pulling himself into the next room, and the truth.


	45. Chapter 4: Deadly Life 3

_Author's Note: Yeah, the author here again with another content warning. I know it's only been 3-4 daily/deadly life's but with the direction this chapter's going to go? Yeah, this is going to be very uncomfortable if you know about the current school violence problem America is facing, yeah, this depicts that. I'm not going to make this political, just giving you guys a warning that this chapter is an oreo cookie of horrifying imagery._

Enjoy the read, at your own risk!

Chapter 4: Persona Non Grata (Deadly Life 3)

Shiro limped into the next room, a bright, clearly lit room with a chair sitting in the center of the room with restraints on both wrists and ankles, in front of that chair was a television screen. On one side of the chair, was a tray with various tools and vials, like eye droppers and forceps. Shiro felt the blood draining from his body as he looked around the room.

"W...what's this…?" Shiro asked, his strength draining slowly as he spoke, Monokuma popped in front of him, but Shiro was too tired to be startled.

"Take a seat and strap in for prize number 1! The truth! This is a very special video I made, that I showed to the culprit of the murder before I sent them on their merry way. Though, you don't have to strap in, unless that's your kink. Wouldn't wanna kinkshame you during a killing game."

"Your jokes aren't fucking funny, Monokuma." Shiro said venomously, Monokuma just laughing some more.

"Ahhh, I missed having someone be annoyed at me. Kenji's been sucking more than usual, so I'm glad I have you, you absolute killjoy." Monokuma said wistfully .

"Play the video before I bleed to death, asshole." Shiro muttered out, climbing into the chair but not bothering to strap himself in. His missing fingers slowly coating the hand rest of the chair with his blood.

"Turn on, Tune in!" Monokuma announced, turning down the lights as the television turned on. "And please, no cell phone use during the movie."

The movie began with what appeared to be a hallway with pink walls. Slowly, a familiar face got on her knees and slowly began to drill a hole in the wall with a small hand drill that barely made any noise. The blonde hair tied in a bun, the blue eyes guarded by a pair of safety glasses, the leather smock over t-shirt and jeans, thick leather gloves and boots…

"Is this.. Emi?" Shiro said, Monokuma snickering at him. It was Emi, drilling holes into the wall before reaching up to tie a cable to a box of wrenches.

"This has to catch them…" Emi muttered to herself, grabbing the cable, and using all her weight to hoist it up into the air so she can suspend it on a nearby shelf. "I've only got one chance to catch him. I have to get us all outta here…" she continued muttering as she continued creating her pulley mechanism. The video suddenly cut as she was putting in the bolts, suddenly, 5 bolts became three, as the sounds Shiro heard next frightened him.

"Come here, you little punk!" A man shouted that Shiro hadn't heard before from off screen. A man in a leather jacket and black hair ran up the stairs in terror as he struggled to catch his breath. Behind him was what appeared to be a person wearing a black and orange mask, brandishing a knife chasing him up the stairs. Up the next set of stairs, Rio swung around the handrail as he continued to get chased.

"Dude! Stop! What're you doing!?" Rio shouted, as he got to a split at the top of the stairs, looking left, then right, and seeing the person chase him up the stairs. He made a sudden left, and tripped on Emi's snare trap. The box of wrenches killing him instantly as a pool of blood began to puddle underneath. The person holding a knife stopped in place, throwing his head back and letting out a raspy laugh.

"Thanks, Emi… C'ya at the trial..." He muttered to himself, pressing a small button on his watch, and the wall where the bolts were drilled in the door opened up, allowing him to step through and leave Rio's body on the floor. A few minutes later, Emi ran up the stairs with a look of fear in her eyes.

"R-Rio!? Oh my god… Why… W-why did it kill him!?" Emi screamed out. It then cut to her dumping the body down the shoot, cleaning the blood with sawdust, and meeting Kenji and Yukata at the bottom of the stairs.

"Who was that…?" Shiro asked, his uninjured left hand covering his mouth. "Who had the mask!? Do you know who that was!? Why weren't they on the door log!?"

"Like I'd tell you." Monokuma said. "Oooh! This one's my favorite!" he said, grabbing a handful of popcorn from a bag in his hand. Shiro looked to the screen, seeing footage from the first class trial. Up until the voting, it was fast forward until they they had all voted for Emi, barring Kenji, who was lashing out at Shiro and Akira for not believing Emi.

"S-she told the truth. It was an accident…There was a mastermind..." Shiro muttered to himself. "K-Kenji was…"

"-immature and spiteful, Taisei." the Shiro in the footage said, Shiro began to shake his head as tears streamed down his face, making his injured body feel more and more like he was about to throw up.

"...He was right…" Shiro said, gritting his teeth so hard it felt like they could shatter to pieces.

"So high and pompous! You can sure change a person in a few weeks, huh!?" Monokuma said, Shiro clutched his forehead as he felt guilt crush his soul.

"Emi was a scapegoat…? We were fooled… Just so the killing game would continue. You son of a bitch..." Shiro spat out as the chain latched around Emi's neck and dragged her to the elaborate table saw execution. He didn't look then, he didn't want to look now. But suddenly, two straps pinned his head to the back of the chair, and two metal wrist restraints grabbed his arms to force him to watch as Emi's shrieks were drowned out by loud music and the revving of the loud saw, as she was forcibly sawed in half in a geyser of blood. The footage turned to static as the door holding the two parts of her body closed back together.

"No…" Shiro choked out. He had already hated seeing that when it first happened, but then he simply saw Emi as a remorseless killer stringing along a seemingly gullible Kenji. He didn't see the trust Kenji had for her, the trust that had to have been sewn from a relationship neither of them could remember. And now he knew she was just as much a victim of the Mastermind's plot as Rio.

"Man, I wish I knew you were coming, I would've cobbled together a special edition of you stopping Kenji from saving his girlfriend. Oh well!" Monokuma taunted, cackling and stuffing popcorn into his mouth.

"Sh-shut up…" Shiro growled as the film cut to a new scene.

"I call this chapter, Why you don't date Yanderes!" Monokuma said as the screen showed Bam on the floor, hands cuffed behind his back as he laid there, crying. Suddenly, the door popped open as a woman in an elaborate black and red coat stepped in the room.

"D-Dahlia! Thank the heavens… You've got to help me! Someone knocked me out and dragged me here." Bam cried out, but Dahlia just stared at him, slinging a makeshift nail bat over one shoulder.

She softly shut the door behind her, barring it shut with a broom as she slowly stepped over and sat next to him, spinning the bat on the tip of the handle.

"S-so… Do you think you can break these cuffs?" Bam asked, wriggling to try and get himself to sit up.

"I won't need to, Takahashi..." Dahlia said, the hope fading from Bam's eyes.

"W-what…?"

"Mhm~ Monokuma gave me a good offer, I think…" Dahlia said, standing up and slinging the bat over a shoulder.

"I-is this about your secret!? I promise, I don't know! I won't tell anyone! Please!" Bam cried out, thrashing in place as Dahlia looked at him stone faced.

"Takahashi... " Dahlia began stoically "Have you ever realized that nobody cares about you?" She asked, fake red eyes glaring down at him as he looked confused.

"I didn't steal your panties! Please, this is ridiculous! You don't have to hurt me…" Bam begged, thrashing on the floor until Dahlia slammed her high heel into his chest, forcing him to lay on his back and shoulders. "W-why me!? Why are you doing this!?"

"Because… I have a future with the one I love. Nobody cares about you, Takahashi. No one talks to you, and Okamoto only likes you because you stroke her worthless ego." She said, pushing hard enough that he began to struggle for air.

"Dahlia, please! Forgive me… I'll be your servant or something, don't kill me! I promise I'll forget about this! I promise. Please… no more murders! Please!" Bam continued to scream, tears running down his eyes.

"...As if I had a choice. Goodbye, Takahashi. No one will ever think of you again in this forlorn life." Dahlia said coldly.

"N-no! No! Dahlia! I don't wanna die! I don't wanna-" he screamed until he heard the ripping of duct tape. Dahlia used a liberal amount and covered his mouth, kicking him once in the head to get him to stop struggling as much.

"Save your breath, you have so little of it left." Dahlia said, picking up the nail bat. "I will not let anyone get the best of me. I am the night queen! I make the rules!" she shrieked, lifting up the bat over her head.

"O~HOHOHOHO! DIE, TAKAHASHI~!" Dahlia shouted as she sent the bat crashing down onto Bam's head. She kept up her laugh as she struck Bam again and again.

"Puhuhuhu~~ Oh Dahlia~ Injecting her with mind altering drugs to turn her into a stereotype. What a success!" Monokuma said, laughing heartily.

"You.. did… WHAT!?" Shiro exclaimed, watching forcefully as a drug-addled Wakako dragged Bam with a rolled up carpet outside to hang his body from the fire curtains.

"I had to test erasing your memories somehow! I had a whole year, jeez… blame a guy."

"What do you mean mind-altering drugs?! You drugged Wakako?! Who else did you-" Shiro asked.

"Oh, don't have a freakout, Shiro! Like I said, I was testing how to take away your memories and Wakako was a guinea pig for creating false memories. She ended up being a kooky serial killing yandere vampire! It happens!" Monokuma shouted, agitated at Shiro.

"It only happens when you let it! Why did you- why her?! She didn't deserve this!"

"Because I thought it'd be so fun. And it was a riot and a half! It totally worked out! I thought I would give you a villain to defeat, and it worked!"

"You destroyed who she was! She loved Yukiji and you turned it into an obsession!" Shiro said, horrified at this.

"Eh, you have to break a few eggs. Didn't think it would super amplify her thirstiness for awkward chess nerds. But hey, maybe it's all that junk about feelings you guys keep going on about. Now shut up and watch me kill a vampire!" Monokuma said, Shiro looking back at the screen.

Wakako was smiling at Yukiji before she got lifted up to the school fairgrounds, and promptly hunted down by Monokuma wearing a Van Helsing knock off costume. Seeing Wakako's desperate attempts to outrun Monokuma Van Helsing, the barbed bolas wrapping around her ankles and tripping her on the stairs. The execution seemed to go faster than he remembered as Monokuma Van Helsing began firing iron bars, impaling Wakako repeatedly. Chest, arms, legs and finally right through her head.

"She was a theater manager… A kind one at that. Did you lie to her about her real secret to scare her into killing Bam!?" Shiro thrashed against the chair in a furor, trying to break free.

"I was trying to read the room. She started getting more sympathetic, so I made something up. It was only like… half true. She hated her mom, but that was in more of 'Moody teen who thinks they know everything' kinda way." Monokuma said, rolling his wrist as he talked. "How is that interesting!? We're here for action! Excitement! Betrayal! No one wants to see a killing game with a bunch of boring people." Monokuma complained, if he could roll his eyes, he would.

"We're real people, you jackass!" Shiro spat out, incredulous. "It doesn't matter if we're ultimate at anything! You can't drug a girl until their personality breaks, and pretend she has a character that you like now!" Shiro screamed, tears flowing freely as the sting of his severed fingers were dulled by his anger.

"Oh, it's just like wrestling, ya know! The best gimmicks are just exaggerations of the real person! It's why you became less interesting as a sniveling baby after I trapped you guys in the bunker. Instead of being the cool and cocky rival to Kenji, you became a loser who hung himself in a jail cell and cried to Akira about it! And speaking of wrestling…" Monokuma said with a dark chuckle as the movie switched scenes, entering as Miho and Reiko slammed through the door of the pool facility.

Reiko and Miho stumbled as Reiko was powerbombed through the door, landing on the floor together as Miho hopped onto her feet, wiping blood from her nose as they continued to trade blows. "Give up yet!? How bout it?! Say you quit!" Miho shouted

"Fuck you! I ain't quittin' shit!" Reiko shouted back, somewhat typical of her at that point. The two trashed the pool facility, knocking the clock off the wall, throwing hard hands at each other. It all came to head when Reiko hooked Miho's legs and forced her off the floor. She broke into a run, but slipped on a puddle of water and fell on her side instead of dropping Miho as planned. Miho landed on top of her head with a sickening crunch, her body rolling into the water from the momentum.

"Ha! Fucking gotcha, you- you... Miho?" Reiko said, confused as Miho stayed in the pool. Reiko though she was gonna spring back out and attack her again, but she stayed under the water. "Fuck! Hang on, Miho. I'll fish you out!" she said, running for the pool, only for sirens to go off. Monokuma popped up in front of Reiko.

"EVERYBODY OUTTA THE POOL!" Monokuma shouted, waving his arms in the air, wearing a lifejacket and a line of sunscreen above his nose.

"Hey~ Who's that handsome devil?" the Monokuma next to Shiro asked, Shiro rolling his eyes before turning back to the screen.

"Get the fuck out of the way, shitferbrains! I'm fuckin' saving Miho here!" Reiko yelled.

"Nope! If you jump in that pool, you're violating the rules about nighttime swimming! I'll have to punish you right there on the spot!" Monokuma warned.

"Then you will have to punish me and Miho at the same time! I'm goin' in, fuckface." Reiko said.

"Not today you're not… As you can see. Lil' Miss Miho here is dying, so fishing her out, and punishing her while everyone else is asleep is going to put me at fault for being a poor headmaster. Her execution is happening as she drowns in the pool… You're a blackened… and I can't kill a blackened until the class trial."

"That's right, bitch! Now lemme save Miho!" She announced, stomping her way to the pool when Monokuma suddenly shocked her to her knees with a touch of his paw. He then quickly handcuffed her and pushed her against a wall.

"Not tonight, you aren't… You will sit here and wait until morning, only then will Miho's body be allowed to fish out. If I were you… I'd get out of here and start coming up with an alibi if you want the class trial to save you!" Monokuma announced.

Reiko just spit in his face. "Fuck yer class trial, you coward. I know there's a real motherfucker controlling that bear, and he's too much of a pussy to come out because I'd whip his ass." Reiko said, trying to fight out of the cuffs.

The camera cut to inside the pool, Miho had bubbles coming from her mouth with a look of sheer horror on her face, wondering why her body wasn't able to move, her hands bobbing gently with the water as she couldn't struggle, speak, or move… She was watching herself die, and there was nothing she could do about it. Shiro watched in disgust before the camera brought back to above the pool.

"You're not a hero, Reiko… You shouldn't have fought her if you didn't want her to die. This is your fault. If you are really adamant on fishing her out, you'll have to wait for morning… but it'll make easy for Kenji and his Sleuth Squad to pin it on you, if you wait." Monokuma said, adjusting his lifeguard shirt.

"Then I'll wait. I'll fucking wait all night if I have to! Just to tell you to kiss my ass... I'm not going to kill my friends by trying to escape, motherfucker. I don't care how easy the class trial is… Even if you kill me, I'll come back from hell and wreck your ass!" Reiko said, cracking her knuckles.

"Good luck with that, Blackened~ It's about 7 hours 'til pool's opened again. Have fun sitting here… Just remember, if even a hair of you touches that pool, I won't let you fish Miho's body from the water." Monokuma said before disappearing.

The camera returned to Miho drowning, speeding along through footage as Miho slowly turned more pale in the water, Shiro watching as the life left her eyes. Occasionally the footage would cut to Reiko, sitting in the same spot, grieving in silence as she slowly accepted her impending death, and her lack of attempt to cover her own crime.

"Fuck… I'm sorry, Miho… why the fuck did we do this? Why did we come here? We could've done this in your lab…." Reiko said, watching as Miho's body floated back up. The camera sped up further, cutting out the Monokuma morning announcement and focusing on Reiko's cuffs getting removed by Monokuma, her jumping in the water and quickly rescuing Miho's body.

"Goddamned bear… you didn't have to die, Miho…" Reiko muttered, choked up. Reiko carried her body to the women's dressing room to try and give her a respectful way to be found.

"Her neck was broken, what was she going to do, sit in a wheelchair and get spoon fed applesauce the rest of her life?" The Monokuma with Shiro muttered out.

"She would've taken it over dying, you ass!" Shiro shouted.

"Man, you just aren't the same cold bastard I loved. Now you're all angry about everything. What're you, Kenji?" Monokuma mocked. "Oooh! Speaking of cold bastard Shiro, I have footage of you being a complete monster!"

And the footage changed to Akira handing Akami the sandwich that killed him. The camera cut to Shiro sneaking back into his bedroom as Akira smiled, sitting up and slowly shuffling over to wake up Haru inside the on-call room. Haru got up, passing through Shiro and Hana's room and walking down stairs to cook breakfast, still shaking the sleep from his eyes as it cut back to Akira sleeping flat on her face, exhausted.

The camera cut back to Akami eating the sandwich. It took time for the effects of the shrimp paste to kick in. He started to struggle for air as he reached up to his throat. Gripping his fingers into the skin of his neck and scraping, scraping in agony as he tried to free his airway. He got up, running to the door before falling on his face, writhing and choking as he ripped through the skin and into the muscle of his neck as he choked to death, his throat drawing closed, eyes wide open and rolling back into his head, blood pooling around his neck as he slowly stopped moving.

Shiro froze, eyes dead as he saw what he had done. It was so easy to just walk away from it then. To just sit and wait for Akami to die. But now Monokuma was making him look at it. See the pain he had caused. "I… I'm a monster…" Shiro said, voice strained as he felt the tears sting his eyes.

"But wait, there's more!" Monokuma said with a cheesy tone.

Shiro went back into the room on the recording. Putting on a pair of surgical gloves, and removing his hospital gown and placing it onto himself as he went over, grabbed a scalpel and duct tape. Quickly taping Yukata's mouth closed before turning back, and hauling his body in his arms. Yukata woke up and began to mutter and scream muffled words as Shiro picked the lock with a swiss army knife. Then slit his throat with the scalpel.

He grabbed the blanket, wrapping it around Akami's still bleeding neck and pushing the window open. He placed the hospital gown back on him, before throwing him out the window and slamming the door shut to catch the blanket noose and let him hang from the building. Shiro sighed to himself as he adjusted his glasses.

"Farewell, Enoshima University…" He said, coldly, before slowly walking back to the on-call room. He was waiting for Setsuki's scream so he can wake up Akira and begin the investigation.

"And yet… Reiko was the blackened! Lucky you! If it weren't for that, you wouldn't be here, bleeding from stumps on your fingers and crying like an inept child!" Monokuma said.

"I… I fucking hate you…" Shiro said, his voice weak and broken sounding.

"We didn't see Reiko die yet. Shhh. This is the cool part." Monokuma said, the scene changing to the third class trial. The explosive argument between Shiro and Reiko after she was voted guilty, four of the votes going to Shiro.

The class trial was just a blur to Shiro as he was in an angry haze, but he remembered that Reiko tore through as many Monokumas as she could, before the numbers overwhelmed her and she was ambushed by a car.

"Now… I could show you the murder that just happened, but I still want you guys to figure that out. Instead, I have a little bonus feature for ya!" Monokuma said with a sadistic glee, changing the picture of what appears to be a school camera, the camera cut to a close-up of the sign in the front of the building. Future's Crest University, Shiro suddenly realized that it was a similar looking campus to whatever this footage was.

What could be described next was nightmarish, and took at least an hour for the events to fully finish, and comprehended through Shiro's mind. The tape was nearly 90 minutes in length, and it started with students of the school smiling, chatting in the homeroom and checking their schedules for the day to see which rooms they ended up being in.

Black vans rolled up to the building, as men in black hoods climbed out of the vans, each one carrying a bag on their side. Their faces were obscured, with a strange symbol that was and orange spiral of arrows, with a single eye in the center. The students looked confused, as dozens of men and women in hoods slowly began to exit the vans one by one.

They slowly began to walk up the stairs to the university, some of the student council running out the front door to confront them. Their arguments were met with silence, before one pulled out a pistol, and shot the student council president in her head. The students began to panic, as each one pulled out a machine gun and began to mow down the students dozens at a time.

Some tried to flee the campus, but they were picked off by snipers in the trees. The students were corralled inside the college, and sent up every floor with hails of bullets. The students of the college eventually barred themselves in. It cut to different classrooms, including the classroom with people like Shiro, Kenji, and others.

The shock troopers blasted the door open with C4, before shooting each student in the head, execution style, until everyone was dead except for the class Shiro was part of. The camera in that room cut to static, as the same masked figure from the video with Rio slowly made their way to the roof of the building with a megaphone.

"Welcome to the new world, boys and girls!" The voice, obscured by a filter announced, as the screen cut to black, leaving Shiro's shocked expression, dead, empty eyes and tears streaking down his face in it's reflection.

"What you just saw was the truth… and the truth is, the culprit was forced to watch that 4 times before I released them out to the bunker. They could have never came here… But they tried to be a hero. This is what happens to people who think they can be heroes…" Monokuma said coldly, completely dropping his singsong gimmick.

It felt like Shiro was talking to a demented psychopath, not a mascot. The shackles released as Shiro fell to his knees, and began to throw up in disgust, though because of his starving body, the only thing that escaped his throat was saliva and stomach bile.

"This was their punishment." Monokuma continued, as he let the injured, emotionally broken Shiro recover from his experiences so far.


	46. Chapter 4: Deadly Life 4

Chapter 4: Persona Non Grata (Deadly Life 4)

Shiro spilled from the No Mercy room horrified at what he saw so far, bleeding out and feeling his vision begin to fade as Monokuma peeked his head out the door. "One more thing. The other prize? It's in Hana's room. Stick your hand in the slow moving fan in the back of the room, there will be a key. Good luck!" he said, shutting the door behind Shiro.

Shiro leaned his body against the side of the wall because he could barely hold himself up at this point. Losing fingers wasn't the biggest wound, but from how roughly they were cut off, and how long it's been since he got them removed, he's lost at least a third of his total blood at this point, and stuffing the stumps in his coat only seems to help a small amount.

Looking at his surroundings, he was back in the equipment room in the Green Hall, and now he had to fight off the physical drain of his wounds, and the sheer emotional drain of everything he's been through the past 3 days. "Why am I doing this to myself…?" Shiro muttered out, a hand on his thigh to hold himself up as he forced himself to walk forward, dragging himself to the door and grabbing it with his left hand to open it.

Shiro dragged himself along the wall, slowly making his way out of Green Hall. He tripped over his own feet as he crossed the threshold of the Key Swap, a streak of his own blood along the wall he was leaning against. "Goddamn… what am I doing? Why am I even bothering…?" Shiro said as he slowly forced himself back to his knees. His body seemed to be acting of its own accord as Shiro got back to his feet and stepped through the door to the Blue Hall, pushing him toward Hana's bedroom. He still had to get the key he had lost a finger to claim.

He got into the room and stumbled over to the slow-moving fan embedded in the wall, he stuck his hand in the hole and felt something cold and metal touch his fingers. He grabbed the object, pulling out a key marked with a dark red J.

"Congrats, you got the Joker Key! This opens every door in this bunker, including a few secret doors. I suggest you check the one in the library!" Monokuma said, appearing behind Shiro.

"How much crap do I have to investigate…?" Shiro muttered in what little frustration his body could muster.

"Two murders." Monokuma said cheekily. Shiro responded by giving Monokuma the middle finger and moving out back to the hallway. He walked to the Library, looking for the secret door Monokuma talked about. He saw instead, a keyhole in the wall next to the back of the room. He took the Joker Key and put it into the keyhole, turning it, he heard a large shift in the door, causing it to slowly swing inward and reveal a crawlspace.

Shiro forced his way through the crawlspace, reaching to the end of it and going through another door on the other side. He landed in… the Equipment Room of Green Hall. "You… you sent me to- you told me to go to the library just so I could go BACK to the Equipment Room?!" Shiro shouted, exasperated. "Fuck you, Monokuma!"

He angrily kicked a nearby box, sending the contents spilling out onto the floor before crawling back to the library where Monokuma was waiting.

"Alright! You found secret door #1! The door that gets you from Green Hall to Blue and vice-versa! You're breaking new ground here, Shiro!" Monokuma cheered, Shiro glaring at him.

"You… you are the worst." he said, walking out of the library. Shiro made his way back to the Medicine Room, and Hana's body. Shiro slowly approached her to inspect her body up close. The first thing he noticed was there was a large bruise across the front of her throat. The next thing he spotted was that her hand was clasped onto something, Shiro carefully working to remove it. He managed to get it free, finding a small glass bottle, and checked the label. "Hrm… cyanide." Shiro said, setting down the bottle. "Hana had a bottle of cyanide on her when she died… but why? Did she drink it? That'd be redundant with the poison found in her room…" Shiro thought over as he checked the rest of Hana's body for further clues.

He looked at the blood on her chin, following it back to her mouth. Shiro's undamage hand began to shiver slightly as his glove touched dead skin. Handling dead bodies should've gotten easier after investigating Bam's. But as he gripped Hana's chin, he felt a sudden illness hit his stomach. More bile threatened to billow out, but Shiro forced it back, feeling the burning on his throat as he forced Hana's jaw open. The inside of her mouth was filled with blood, Shiro using his injured hand to push his glasses closer to his eyes to get a better look inside.

"It's hard to see past the blood, but… there's a cut along her tongue." Shiro said to himself, squinting to try and see the cut better through the blood. "She might've bitten it, but I can't think of why she would do that… the more I look into this murder, the more the pieces of the puzzle seem like a disjointed mess."

As Shiro got up from Hana's body, he took one last look at the Medicine Room, seeing an iron pipe near the door. "A pipe? There's no blunt force trauma on either body, or any blood on the pipe. So what would this be doing here?" Shiro asked, looking along the walls to see if there could have been any marks on the wall, scuffs on the floor… anything that looked like an attack. But there was nothing that off the impression, so he pressed onward toward the chem lab, using the Joker Key to open the door.

He saw the words written in blood on the wall. NOBODY WINS. Shiro knew he would have to look at the bloody message in more detail, but first he had to look over Yukata's body. He had strange injuries on his hands, bruises on his wrists, and one of his thumbs had a slice on the second knuckle. The bolt sticking out of his chest was obviously what killed him, but the bruises were what was bothering Shiro.

On the floor in front of the crossbow was a splatter of blood. He walked over, bending down to inspect the bloodstain, seeing it trail over to Yukata's body. "Hrm, the bloodstain leads back to Yukata, so he wasn't immediately dead…" Shiro said, turning back to look up at the crossbow. It was fired, but to keep it steady, the crossbow was being held with a clamp against the plexiglass window. At this angle, he saw a strange shimmering reflection of the lights in that room.

"Something happened to these two that an autopsy can't explain. But… What?" Shiro asked, turning around to see the window with the vent. He walked over, bending down to inspect the crossbow. It was fired, but to keep it steady, the crossbow was being held with a clamp against the plexiglass window. At this angle, he saw a strange shimmering reflection of the lights in that room.

Shiro broke into a sluggish run, heading back into the medicine room to inspect the clam on the other side, sliding his finger to the trigger to find that the trigger had something wrapped around where you placed your finger. He bit his lower lip, slowly trailing the thread to wrap itself around Hana's wrist. Her opposite finger had blood on it.

"So… Hana's finger was used to write the message, but… she has the invisible thread around a wrist? So.. Hana pulled the trigger that shot Yukata... " Shiro surmised, before an announcement played on the screen. It was Monokuma standing with the other students on the elevator to the class trial room.

"Hey, Shiiiiiro~ You've been taking waaaay too long to get to the elevator. You know that, right?" Monokuma taunted.

"He's still alive?" Kenji asked bitterly.

"Shiro! Please! Get here soon!" Akira said.

"Yes, please get here! I can only put up with Kenji's whining about you for so long! Hurry it up, Kiruma, or we're leaving you in that bunker!" Monokuma shouted, before the screen turned off.

Akira and Kenji glared at each other as Setsuki tried to step closer to mediate. "Can you two please work together…? We've been doing so well this far..." Setsuki pleaded, but Akira and Kenji just looked away from each other.

"He's being irrational." Akira said angrily.

"She's playing favorites." Kenji shot back

This made Setsuki just sigh. "Where did we go wrong? Jeeze…" She complained, Haru shaking his head as he softly played with his dog's tummy.

"That bunker was made for us to hate each other. I think it worked… I'm just glad we can breath fresh air again, y'know? Kiko had nowhere to go to the bathroom..." Haru said.

"Oh, I forgot about that." Setsuki said, looking warily at Kiko.

"Good thing I taught her to use the toilet, or else there woulda been poop everywhere!" Haru said proudly.

"...You've taught your dog some strange things." Airi commented.

"Hey, ULTIMATE dog trainer, it's in the name." Haru countered. The room went quiet, the tension between Kenji and Akira billowing through the air like a fog. The silence was cut by the sight of Shiro for the first time since they were separated. There were gasps all around as they saw what Shiro looked like. His clothes were in tatters, covered in so much blood his suit looked pink in some places. He was bleeding from his hand, the other missing the glove, and showed he had severed a few of his fingers.

Life was drained from his body, he was paler than death, with dark rings under his eyes. His hair was a disheveled mop on his head and his glasses were broken. He barely made his way into the elevator before he fell onto his face in a heap. Setsuki let out a scream as everyone scrambled to help him up.

"Oh God, Shiro!" Akira exclaimed, grabbing him by the shoulders to flip him over, supporting his head as the others

"I… made it to the class trial… Akira. I'm.. here… to… he-" He said, interrupted by him starting to cough. "Goddamn it…" he gasped out as he coughed up more bile, rubbing it on his sleeve before he continued. "I… I can't see. What's happening?"

"You're runnin' out of blood, of course! The class trial will continue as usual, but Shiro will need medical assistance, first!" Monokuma said.

"We're delayin' the trial?" Setsuki asked.

"Nada. We'll do the trial, and Shiro will come back before the voting begins, just so he doesn't feel left out." Monokuma said. "Now then; he's the one they call Dr. Killgood, he's the one that makes ya feel alright! Ahhh~hahahahaha!" Monokuma cackled out before Monokumas in nurse outfits wheeled a gurney in front of the elevator door. Akira and Airi carried Shiro onto the gurney, the Nurse Monokumas strapping him in.

Kenji watched all this from his own corner of the elevator, away from the others as they fawned over Shiro.

 _The question I have to ask myself is, what happened here? We found nothing conclusive as evidence, and Shiro disappeared after a 2 hour gap, and when he showed up, he was mutilated.._ Kenji thought to himself, seeing Akira doing her typical motivating speech to Setsuki and Yukiji. The elevator dropped down as Shiro was wheeled off, plunging the group into darkness.

 _What did the culprit want when they said 'Nobody Wins'? Is it supposed to mean something? Who are they slighting? Monokuma, Shiro, or the rest of us…?_

 _The sun rises on another Class Trial. And when it sets… we'll know the truth_


	47. CLASS TRIAL 4

_**CLASS TRIAL, ALL RISE!**_

( _The trial room was now concrete walls, covered in various 'psychopop' graffiti and messages like 'Despair' and 'Party time!' The pictures at the trial grounds now had Reiko, Yukata, and Hana crossed out._ )

 **Monokuma:** Before we begin… Allow me to complain how just plain incompetent you guys are.

 **Monokuma Cont'd:** You had ONE JOB! ONE! I told all of you to bop Shiro, it's not hard, he's a pencil-necked geek! And yet, not only is Shiro still alive, TWO OTHER PEOPLE not even related to Shiro died instead! Just how awful at Killing Games are you guys, huh!? If I told you to put on pants would you set your house on fire!? What else are you guys incompetent at!? 

**Kenji Taisei:** It wasn't for lack of trying, okay? Some of us thought Shiro needed to live!

 **Akira Kazue:** Yes, because I don't think we need more killers who get to skip being the blackened besides Shiro. Are you even listening to yourself right now?

 **Haru Yamada:** Before these two start arguing again, can I ask you something, Monokuma?

 **Monokuma:** Wow, Haru is asking a question. Can ya believe it, ladies and gentlemen!?

 **Haru Yamada:** Yeah, I get it. You're mad at us, look. Hana and Yukata both died. Do we have to determine who died first again?

 **Monokuma:** I'll give you a helping hand, but don't ask for help ever again, got it?

 **Monokuma Cont'd:** You're looking for the person who killed Yukata, specifically, and regardless of this fact, there is only one killer. If you figured out who killed both people, then you'll know who to vote for!

 **Setsuki Yori:** Okay… But is Shiro going to make it in time?

 **Monokuma:** He's getting a blood transfusion. He won't be okay, but he'll be able to stand on his own power after my MonoMedics tape him up. That's good enough for him to debate, I think.

 **Monokuma Cont'd:** But for now, let's see how far you guys can get without him. Heh, maybe you'll solve it without him, buuuut he knows things that you don't knoooow~

 **Yukiji Chimon:** Uhm… Is it because he went in the No Medicine room, right?

 **Monokuma:** Okay, clearly you haven't looked at it enough, it's the No Mercy Room, kay? Get the terminology straight, I worked hard on naming this.

 **Haru Yamada:** What would be in a No Medicine room?

 **Setsuki Yori:** Uhh… Anything except for medicine, right?

 **Monokuma:** I gave you guys lunch, get it together and use your brain! Fine, I'll start the debate myself!

 _Debate Starts  
_

 **Monokuma:** Who died? Will we figure out this impossible case!? WHO WAS IT!?

 **Setsuki Yori:** Oh, I know! Yukata and Hana, right?

 **Monokuma:** Good job, Setsuki! I'm so glad you can read! You get a gold star!

 **Akira Kazue:** ...Are you serious? This is what we're debating about?

 **Monokuma:** You pick something to talk about, or do you want me to play hopscotch with you!?

 **Akira Kazue:** Ugh, fine. We'll talk about the murder weapon. What killed Hana?

 **Haru Yamada:** It was poison, right? ...At least, I think it was poison. Wasn't there poison in her hand?

 **Kenji Taisei: I agree with Haru!**

 _Debate Stops_

 **Kenji Taisei:** Hana had a vial in her hand when we found her body, so I can assume she took that poison, and promptly died.

 **Akira Kazue:** The poison was cyanide, right? I clearly remember the label saying cyanide.

 **Airi Kudo:** Yet, I don't think the symptoms Hana died from indicate cyanide. She had bleeding in her brain, and that would mean methanol, or ricin…

 **Airi Kudo Cont'd:** Cyanide causes your lungs to stop functioning, and can cause a heart attack. But that was Yukata's death… Hana died from bleeding in her brain.

 **Yukiji Chimon:** Oh yeah, I forget that Airi's good at poisons.

 **Airi Kudo:** I know how poison works. I'm not going around poisoning people.

 **Kenji Taisei:** We'll see about that…

 **Airi Kudo:** And what is _that_ supposed to mean?

 **Kenji Taisei:** You know damn well what I mean, you-

 **SETSUKI YORI: HOLD ON A MINUTE!**  
 _  
Debate Starts_

 **Setsuki Yori:** Didn't Yukata get shot with a crossbow?

 **Airi Kudo:** He did…

 **Setsuki Yori:** And… Why would Hana immediately poison herself after shooting Yukata?

 **Airi Kudo:** Not sure. Kenji is right, this death isn't logical. Everything Monokuma did was to introduce ways we can kill Shiro. But… whoever killed Hana and Yukata decided to spare him.

 **Kenji Taisei:** And I think that means Akira is complicit.

 **Akira Kazue:** Did you forget? Even if I'm an accomplice, if I voted for the wrong person, I'm still dead. Who the heck benefits from that!?

 **Yukiji Chimon:** Well, the killer did write that bloody message…

 **Airi Kudo: I agree with Yukiji!**

 _Debate Stops_

 **Airi Kudo:** Yukiji has a decent theory, on paper at least. Don't you remember Hana's fingers?

 **Yukiji Chimon:** Yeah… She had bloody fingers, and was in the same room as 'Nobody Wins'... So I think Hana either wrote it, or someone used her finger to write that message.

 **Haru Yamada:** Wait wait wait. Why are we automatically assuming that Hana killed Yukata? Isn't that kind of reckless? We've got this far by constantly checking alibis.

 **Haru Yamada Cont'd:** So, saying Hana did it, is disrespectful to Hana. We have like… seven suspects here, counting Shiro. Are we all going to pass the buck!?

 **Setsuki Yori:** We found Hana in the medicine room, right? How else could anyone do it?

 **Haru Yamada:** Okay, I'm not an investigator, but let me figure somethin' out.

 **Haru Yamada Cont'd:** Airi, was the door unlocked when you found the bodies?

 **Airi Kudo:** The room Yukata died in was locked, but the room Hana in wasn't.

 **Haru Yamada:** So, if they bothered to lock Yukata in the lab, and didn't lock Hana in, doesn't that mean that the culprit was worried Yukata could escape, but wasn't worried if Hana would.

 **Haru Yamada Cont'd:** So what I'm going to say, is that Hana was dead before she ever set foot in that medicine room!

 **Airi Kudo:** But she had the Spade Key on her, so she would have to have gone in herself.

 **Kenji Taisei:** Or someone else took it from her and planted on her.

 **Kenji Taisei Cont'd:** The fact that the door wasn't locked means that they couldn't lock the door from the inside before leaving the room. They had to leave the room, so they couldn't lock the door.

 **Yukiji Chimon:** And I think the only way they can keep the door locked without using the key, is if they locked themselves in the room… or if someone locked them in, and took the key away.

 **Kenji Taisei:** Yukiji… I think you might be right!

 **Yukiji Chimon:** I'm right?

 **Kenji Taisei:** It would make sense if one of the doors was locked. The culprit could lock one door with the key, but they would need both keys to lock both doors. The only other way they could lock both doors, is if the culprit never left the room.

 **Yukiji Chimon:** I don't get it.

 **Kenji Taisei:** It means that the culprit didn't use both keys to lock both doors, because Yukata didn't have any key on him when I fleeced his body over. They only had one key.

 **Setsuki Yori:** Then where was the other key?

 _Debate Starts_

 **Akira Kazue:** If they only could get one key… Then it would have to be one of the two keys relevant to either room.

 **Haru Yamada:** The uhh… Heart Key and the Spade Key, right?

 **Akira Kazue:** And that means that they would have aquired that key from someone for them to unlock the door.

 **Akira Kazue Cont'd:** Here's an idea… What if Hana let herself in with the Spade key? The culprit didn't have that key, they only had the heart key, and that's why the lab door was locked.

 **Yukiji Chimon:** But… Why would Hana let someone in to kill her?

 **Akira Kazue:** Maybe the killer was in the room already. _  
_

 **Kenji Taisei:** Doing… what, exactly?

 **Akira Kazue:** Killing Yukata!

 **Kenji Taisei: No, That's wrong!**

 _Debate Stops_ **  
**  
 **Kenji Taisei:** I'm pretty sure that if Hana had the key for the medicine room, then Hana and only Hana would be able to open the door. For someone to head into that room before Hana, they would either need the key from Hana, or be left in that room, and stay there to wait in ambush.

 **Akira Kazue:** And you're saying she can't be ambushed?

 **Kenji Taisei:** When was the last time any of us entered the medicine room?

 **Airi Kudo:** I took a chemistry kit and some components from it this morning. Then we had the meeting, and most of us went to our rooms…

 **Kenji Taisei:** And everyone was accounted for, right?

 **Airi Kudo:** Most of the girls were… Akira was with Shiro, Setsuki was in her room, Hana went to bed, and I was the last one who went to sleep.

 **Setsuki Yori:** I uhh.. I'm tired of opening doors. Every time I open a door, I end up walking in on something horrifying… I've just been hanging out in my room.

 **Kenji Taisei:** And you're absolutely sure you didn't see Akira do anything, Airi?

 **Akira Kazue:** Really? We're doing this?

 **Kenji Taisei:** I'm not taking any chances, Akira. You and Shiro both had access to the Diamond Key, either of you could have left the room and stole Hana's key.

 **Akira Kazue:** Shiro and I were both in the Prison and Shiro was not in the state of mind to harm anyone else. Please stop trying to rope him into this.

 **Kenji Taisei:** Shiro's lied to us before. He made himself look like he was suffering from Despair Disease to keep suspicion off him. And you were the one he was fooling, so he knows how gullible you are.

 **Akira Kazue:** I saw him try to strangle himself with my belt! The bedroom doors only lock from the inside, once Hana was in her room, I couldn't get to her!

 **Setsuki Yori:** Wooo-oo-oaa-aah. You can't just dump that on someone! Shiro was doing what!?

 **Akira Kazue:** You heard me, he was trying to hang himself! He… he heard the arguing, and thought he was wasting everyone's time… I had to give him CPR to bring him back.

 **Kenji Taisei:** You should have let him go through with it.

 **Akira Kazue:** Are you fucking listening to yourself right now!? You sound like a sociopath!

 **Kenji Taisei:** Akira… Fucking drill this in your head. Shiro KILLED someone. How is anything I've said so far wrong!? It's not like I want you to die, you're just some cop.

 **Kenji Taisei Cont'd:** Shiro did the only thing we aren't supposed to do, and got away with it. How am I not supposed to hate him? And if you had just let him do it, Yukata and Hana would still be here!

 **Akira Kazue:** No, they wouldn't! Shiro hasn't even interacted with them after the meeting. And by the time I had talked him out of suicide, the bodies had been found!

 **Monokuma:** Kenji has no chill! I guess this is what despair does, huh!? Puhuhu~

 **Akira Kazue:** Stay out of this, Monokuma! This loophole only happened because you suck at your job!

 **Monokuma:** Excuse me? Excuse me!? What did you just say!?

 **Kenji Taisei:** This doesn't involve you, Monokuma!

 **Yukiji Chimon:** All this talk about keys… I have no idea what's going on. Who had what key? Where did they get the keys?

 **Airi Kudo:** We should start from the beginning. Where we saw each key last, and where we found the keys just after the murder. Maybe Yukiji will be caught up with the 'who had what key' problem if we walk through this step by step instead of trying to explain how doors work over and over again.

 **Airi Kudo Cont'd:** We all grabbed keys from the Key Swap. Akira had asked who had which key before the investigation began. Akira had the Diamond Key, which opened the library and the prison. I think she's the only one who used that key, and had it for nearly the entire time we were down in the bunker.

 **Akira Kazue:** When Shiro tried to hang himself, he stole my key from me to wedge my belt in the door. But, since I haven't heard any of you see him, I imagine he never left the room we were in.

 **Airi Kudo:** And because we have no one else to counter that, we have to accept this as fact.

 **Airi Kudo Cont'd:** Akira never left the room after the meeting, and only showed up after the murder. This makes her not a suspect. And since no one saw Shiro leave his cell, and he was intent on committing suicide, he is most likely not a suspect either.

 **Haru Yamada:** Or doing weird stuff involving belts.

 **Airi Kudo:** Let's not go there.

 **Monokuma:** That joke was… in excess!

 **Airi Kudo:** And he went there...

 **Kenji Taisei:** Motherfucker, I don't even want to know.

 **Monokuma:** I'm Lonely~! Can't think at all~! I need you tonight, Kenji~

 **Airi Kudo:** I'm ignoring him and everything he says from this point onward.

 **Setsuki Yori:** Agreed…

 **Haru Yamada:** Hey, was that a joke abou-

 **Airi Kudo:** WE'RE MOVING ON!

 **Akira Kazue:** _(sighs)_

 **Yukiji Chimon:** So.. who had the other keys?

 **Kenji Taisei:** If I remember right, Haru had the Heart Key. It opened the Green Hall so we could go to the key exchange.

 **Akira Kazue:** It also unlocked the Lab Room. Airi used it regularly for making appetite suppressant.

 **Airi Kudo:** I used the key less by bringing a small lab into my room instead. I got tired of asking Haru for the key every time I needed it. I felt like it was inconvenient for him.

 **Haru Yamada:** It's okay, Airi! I was spending a lotta time walkin' Kiko, so I would be wandering both halls anyway.

 **Monokuma:** And eatin' dog food!

 **Haru Yamada:** Look, it was trying times in that bunker! I had to do something!

 **Yukiji Chimon:** You ate dog food…?

 **Haru Yamada:** It had VITAMINS. And NUTRIENTS! And lots of other good stuff!

 **Monokuma:** And it tastes like my hopes and dreams. Absolute trash!

 **Haru Yamada:** You don't have any hopes and dreams! You're a bear! Not even a cool bear. Like a wrestlin' bear, or a bear who knows geometry. You're just a bear who makes other people feel bad.

 **Monokuma:** W-wha…

 **Kenji Taisei:** How was that the insult that got to him…?

 **Setsuki Yori:** This is really distracting. Is this gonna happen with every key?

 **Monokuma:** Let's find out if I come up with a terrible, off color non sequitur for the next key!

 **Setsuki Yori:** At least we got the INXS one out of the way…

 **Airi Kudo:** No. Shut up. WE'RE MOVING ON!

 **Airi Kudo Cont'd:** Now, who had the Club Key?

 **Setsuki Yori:** I does! Though, I kind of forgot which doors the Club Key goes to. I've been avoiding doors lately…

 **Monokuma:** Have you tried climbing through windo-

 **Airi Kudo:** SHUT UP!

 **Akira Kazue:** We don't usually have Monokuma this annoying during a class trial… It's frustrating me.

 **Monokuma:** So, would you say me being annoying… is annoying? Puhuhuhu~ Cash or Credit?

 **Airi Kudo:** That was terrible, you're not funny and nobody likes you.

 **Monokuma:** …

 **Airi Kudo:** …

 **Setsuki Yori:** …

 **Akira Kazue:** The.. uhh… Club Key opened the blue hall. And it opened the equipment room.

 **Yukiji Chimon:** Does the equipment room come equipped with a crossbow?

 **Akira Kazue:** ( _Exasperated_ ) Yukiji, not you too!

 **Airi Kudo:** ( _Dead Inside_ ) Oh my God, we're all idiots.

 **Kenji Taisei:** Someone please answer the question.

 **Airi Kudo:** From what I remember from checking the equipment room for supplies for the mini-lab… no, there's no weapons in there.

 **Akira Kazue:** The last key was Hana's key. The Spade Key unlocks the Rec Room, and the Medicine Room, where she perished. That's that for who had what key before the murder. Who had what key after the murder?

 **Setsuki Yori:** I never lost my Club Key, if that's any good news.

 **Airi Kudo:** That's to be expected, it's one of the irrelevant keys, I'm glad we don't have to think about it then.

 **Akira Kazue:** I showed that I still had the Diamond Key. Except for when Shiro took it, I had it the whole time.

 **Airi Kudo:** Then that leaves the Heart Key. Haru, you said you had it, right?

 **Haru Yamada:** Yeah, had it. I've got no idea where it went.

 **Akira Kazue:** What was that? You didn't know where it went?

 **Haru Yamada:** Yeah… After the meeting, I wanted to go to the Rec Room. So I met with Setsuki, Yukiji, and hopefully Hana so she could let us in. But Hana didn't show up, I went back to the Green Hall. Then I lost the key.

 **Yukiji Chimon:** For the record, uhh… I went to the blue hall with Airi. She needed me for something, so Haru, Yukata and Kenji were in the Green Hall together.

 **Airi Kudo:** Yeah, Hana wasn't available, so I wanted him to help me mix more appetite suppressant. I kind of wished I asked Yukiji first, he doesn't mouth off, and knows how to read big words.

 **Haru Yamada:** Hello? Hana is kinda dead… Can we not insult her intelligence?

 **Airi Kudo:** That wasn't what I was trying to do, but fine. I had Yukiji with me almost entirely up until the murder.

 **Kenji Taisei:** But that doesn't answer the question at hand. Who had the Heart Key?

 **Haru Yamada:** I dunno, man. You looked with me the whole time and we couldn't find it in the Green Hall!

 **Airi Kudo:** I believe where we found the key was my room. It might have been because I was with Yukiji, and it was easy to stash it since I leave my room unlocked.

 **Kenji Taisei:** Yeah, but why would you have the Heart Key?

 **Airi Kudo:** What? Kenji, I just said it was stashed in my room. I didn't have the Heart Key.

 **Kenji Taisei:** But can we prove that?

 _Debate Starts_

 **Yukiji Chimon:** I spent a lot of my time after meeting Haru spending time with Airi.

 **Kenji Taisei:** But 100% of the time?

 **Yukiji Chimon:** I mean… no. Not really... More like 70% Otherwise, I was with Setsuki.

 **Kenji Taisei:** So there's a chance that she acted when you were separated.

 **Kenji Taisei Cont'd:** Since Yukata died first, Hana could have walked in on her and panicked.

 **Airi Kudo:** That would be entirely based on if I was in the room before Hana could lock it.

 **Kenji Taisei:** You could have asked her to unlock it before she knew you were going to kill somebody. Then when she walked in to check on you, you were killing Yukata, she panicked, so you had to kill her.

 **Airi Kudo:** That's a lot to assume, Kenji. How could you know if she panicked?

 **Kenji Taisei:** You saying you wouldn't panic at the sight of a murder happening?

 **Kenji Taisei Cont'd:** You could have forced her down and made her drink cyanide!

 **Akira Kazue: No, that's wrong!**

 **Akira Kazue Cont'd:** There was no way Hana could have panicked if she saw someone killed. She had no signs of major injury when we found her.

 **Haru Yamada:** So… It would have to be a one hit attack. One where she can't fight back, or notice it.

 **Akira Kazue:** I saw one thing in the room that might have been used as a weapon 

( _Akira put a thumb to her chin, thinking back to the Medicine Room and what she saw._ )

 **Akira Kazue: Here!**

 **Akira Kazue Cont'd:** It was the iron pipe by the door. Where it is sitting, you can't really see it if you walk into the room, unless you turn around first. The culprit could have grabbed it after Hana went into the room, and she wouldn't notice unless she turned around.

 **Kenji Taisei:** So, Airi attacked Hana with an iron pipe...

 **Akira Kazue:** We still don't know if it's Airi. Don't start having tunnel vision or we'll miss the actual truth.

 **Kenji Taisei:** Right, because your chosen people can't be murderers.

 **Akira Kazue:** And everyone you put your faith in kills someone! We can't guarantee our friends aren't going to kill someone or not! Stop acting like we're on seperate teams, damn it!

 **Kenji Taisei:** Then stop protecting Airi!

 **Akira Kazue:** I'm not! There has to be some kind of trick. Don't you remember that message on the wall? They want us to fuck up and get it wrong so nobody wins!

 **Akira Kazue Cont'd:** Besides, you don't have any proof that Airi did any of this! You just want her to be guilty because she's your 'enemy' now! Let's eliminate every other possibility before we pick Airi!

 **Kenji Taisei:** Fine! So the culprit would need to be someone who was able to get into the Medicine Room and Chem Lab, craft poisons, arm and fire a crossbow and attack someone with an iron pipe. So, let's start with the Keys.

 **Kenji Taisei Cont'd:** We know that Airi used the rooms for supplies for appetite suppressant, so she would want access to both keys. She probably convinced Hana to unlock the Lab so she could use it, then she talked Yukata into helping her, locked him in, and set up the crossbow to kill him.

 **Airi Kudo:** Wait, that doesn't-

 **Kenji Taisei:** Any time the subject of chemicals came up, Airi was the go-to expert on them, so she would be the only one who would know how to make poisons. Airi, can you say that you've made poisons?

 **Airi Kudo:** Y-yes, but-

 **Kenji Taisei:** And you've used them on missions?

 **Airi Kudo:** Only in exceptional circumstances, not-

 **Kenji Taisei:** And when we got put in the bunker, we all were given something from our labs. I got a pillow, Akira got her taser, Hana got a basketball, Yukata got his card case, Yukiji got a chess set, Haru got dog food-

 **Haru Yamada:** Really terrible dog food!

 **Kenji Taisei:** Thanks, Haru. The only ones who we don't know are Shiro, Setsuki and Airi. Setsuki, what did you get?

 **Setsuki Yori:** A helmet.

 **Kenji Taisei:** And it seems unlikely that the Ultimate Politician would have a crossbow, so that would only leave Airi as the one who got the crossbow.

 **Airi Kudo:** I didn't-

 **Kenji Taisei:** And you have the skills to get the drop on someone and attack them with a pipe. Speaking from experience when you nearly broke my arm.

 **Airi Kudo:** If I got a crossbow, I would have told somebody about it! There wasn't a single weapon in this building!

 **Kenji Taisei:** Then where did you get the iron pipe?

 **Airi Kudo:** The iron pipe was most likely from the equipment room, where you made that really ugly basketball hoop for Hana. Where the hell does someone get a crossbow?

 **Kenji Taisei:** The No Mercy Room!

 **Airi Kudo:** And yet the other person who went in the same room lost his fingers. Why do I have mine?

 **Kenji Taisei:** Ah! W-well, maybe there's another way to go through the No Mercy Room! Monokuma, what are the rules of the No Mercy Room?

 **Monokuma:** You get no details unless you ask Shiro. But once you're inside, you have to figure out how to escape, and you get a reward for it.

 **Kenji Taisei:** Are you shitting me?! You're gonna get all tight-lipped on us?!

 **Monokuma:** I'm not here to help you! I'm here to oversee these trials as an impartial judge!

 **Kenji Taisei:** Hmph! Fine, I didn't like you anyway!

 **Monokuma:** ( _Sadly_ ) Kenji doesn't like me…

 **Kenji Taisei:** Damn straight. Now go make friends with a blender.

 **Kenji Taisei Cont'd:** Now, we can't assume that everyone who went into the No Mercy Room lost fingers, otherwise one of us would be missing fingers too, and this class trial would have been way easier. Maybe Shiro just sucked at it.

 **Yukiji Chimon:** So, you're saying that Airi went into the No Mercy Room, got a crossbow and used it to kill Yukata?

 **Kenji Taisei:** Airi has a very high intellect. If the No Mercy Room involves logic, I assume she could get through it better than Shiro could. Shiro's crafty, but not as smart as she is.

 **Airi Kudo:** You've never addressed the question I wanted to ask you. Why would I kill Yukata, if killing Shiro means I don't have to do a class trial? There's a lot of risk, for no reward.

 **Kenji Taisei:** …

 **Airi Kudo:** I would have gained nothing from killing Yukata. I get my friends killed if you're all wrong, and if I killed Shiro, we could have escaped and continued to investigate. By all means, I would have killed Shiro if I had a gun to my head. And Yukata was my friend, we played games together when he wasn't with you.

 **Monokuma:** I can attest to tending bar at the Rec Room, seeing you two laughing down at the foosball.

 **Setsuki Yori:** Who says it like that?

 **Airi Kudo:** I swear his jokes just get more esoteric and awful every time he speaks.

 **Airi Kudo Cont'd:** To kill someone and put my life at risk, hoping I won't be sussed out is much more difficult than if I just simply stabbed Shiro so we could escape the bunker. Kenji, you need to make sure you have a good reason why I would intentionally spite everyone here, when given the opportunity for an easy escape.

 **Kenji Taisei:** …

 **Akira Kazue:** It's Occam's Razor… Killing Shiro was the easiest thing any of us could have done to deal with the situation, but someone decided to ignore that, and murder someone anyway, to force us into a class trial and potentially get us all killed. Is Airi capable of committing such a hateful act?

 **Kenji Taisei:** Maybe they were upset with how you were handling things? You were weirdly defensive of Shiro.

 **Akira Kazue:** Kenji, if you wanted to kill Shiro, you could have knocked me out, stole my key, and killed him. There still wouldn't be a class trial. Someone intentionally avoided killing Shiro, to make this class trial happen. Someone wants to escape the Killing Game, not just escape the bunker.

 **Haru Yamada:** Or get us all killed…

 **Akira Kazue:** Wouldn't that mean the same thing? We all die when the Blackened graduates.

 **Haru Yamada:** Not when the Blackened could be dead, dude…

 **Akira Kazue:** What are you implying?

 **Haru Yamada:** Just… hear me out. Hana was alone in that room, and so was Yukata. And if Yukata died first… doesn't that mean Hana had to watch?

 **Haru Yamada:** Hana… might have killed Yukata, and then commited suicide after framing Airi.

 **Kenji Taisei:** No fucking way. Hana and Yukata were friends. Hana had no incentive to kill him over Shiro. Akira was making it sound like it was a grudge.

 **Kenji Taisei Cont'd:** Why would you think Hana wants to kill Yukata?

 **Haru Yamada:** Maybe she didn't believe Monokuma when he said killing Shiro wouldn't cause a class trial.

 **Monokuma:** Hey! My motives are always based in cold, hard, facts! I wouldn't lie about how a motive works. I explain everything you guys need to know! If I told you guys you have to eat your own shoes to pass a test, you better start liking the taste of shoes!

 **Kenji Taisei:** ( _Ignoring Monokuma completely_ ) Come on, Haru. You really think Hana would kill Yukata?

 **Haru Yamada:** If she had a reason she wanted all of us to die, she could…

 **Akira Kazue:** She had blood on her finger, so she technically did write Nobody Wins, as far as we know.

 **Yukiji Chimon:** And you're sure we have everyone's alibis? Can we run by those again?

 **Akira Kazue:** Shiro and I were in the prison the entire time.

 **Airi Kudo:** You were with me, except for my brief trips to my bedroom.

 **Haru Yamada:** Kenji and I were looking for my key, after it went missing.

 **Setsuki Yori:** I was taking a nap in my room.

 **Yukiji Chimon:** And I remember you locked your door when I went to check on you, Setsuki… Was anyone in the medicine room when Hana died!?

 **Akira Kazue:** Calm down, Yukiji… We're figuring this out.

 **Monokuma:** Oh! Big news guys! Shiro's on the elevator. He got a blood transfusion and some bandaids. He should be down here in a few minutes.

 **Setsuki Yori:** What happened to him?

 **Monokuma:** He had a bad time in the No Mercy Room. But he got all his questions answered, if that helps! Maybe we can stop talking about all this key nonsense and actually get some questions answered!

 **Monokuma Cont'd:** Normally I'm not on your team for these class trials… but I really wanted one of you guys to kill Shiro. The fact someone didn't do that is.. Kind of annoying, honestly. I'm hoping he explains things to you and you vote correctly so I can move on with my life.

 **Setsuki Yori:** Move on with your life!? You're keeping us hostage!

 **Monokuma:** Yeah. That's my life, silly~

( _The elevator finally touched down, Shiro stepping out still dressed in a hospital gown. He had bandages on both hands, one with a bloodstain where his missing fingers used to be, and was walking somewhat sluggishly to his podium, climbing onto it and placing both hands in front of him. He took the biggest, deepest breath of his life as he finally focused himself. Though, he had a new pair of unbroken glasses._ )

 **Monokuma:** Shiro's back! Woop woop!

 **Shiro Kiruma:** Indeed.

( _Shiro took off his hospital gown, revealing the bloody suit he was wearing earlier._ )

 **Monokuma:** No new duds? You could at least find one without blood.

 **Shiro Kiruma:** I was worried voting time had started. I didn't want to waste time getting dressed.

 **Akira Kazue:** So.. Shiro, did you do your own investigation of the crime scene?

 **Shiro Kiruma:** I've checked the murder scene, most of the rooms, and the eponymous No Mercy Room. 

**Monokuma:** Oh, I would've waited until you had shown up. You're pretty important to this case and all, Shiro. Why do you think I spent so much time making stupid references instead of judging the trial?

 **Akira Kazue:** That's why!? You were ribbing us to waste time?!

 **Monokuma:** Wellllll, that and to amuse myself! Wasting time is what I do! Puhuhuhu~

 **Shiro Kiruma:** ...Clearly I've missed most of the fun. I'm lucky, I suppose.

 **Monokuma:** Guess we could call you the Ultimate Lucky Student! Ahh-hahahaha!

 **Setsuki Yori:** D-did you really attempt suicide!? Are you okay?

 **Shiro Kiruma:** ...I see you told them, Akira.

 **Akira Kazue:** I only said it to make sure everyone know you had an alibi. I'm sorry, Shiro…

 **Shiro Kiruma:** I forgive you. Now, is there anything I need to be caught up on before I start debating with the rest of you?

 **Airi Kudo:** We're talking about alibis and who could have been in the same room as Hana when she died.

 **Kenji Taisei:** And Airi's alibi is shoddy!

 **Shiro Kiruma:** I remember something explicitly from when we all discovered Hana's body. The body discovery announcement. Setsuki, Yukiji, and Airi were the three I saw when Akira and I left the cell. Was there a fourth person on that side of the building that could have triggered the announcement?

 **Kenji Taisei:** Well, there was Yukata. He was in the room opposite of her.

 **Shiro Kiruma:** But Yukata died before Hana. He can't witness her if he's dead. Were you two anywhere near the Blue Hall when the body discovery announcement played?

 **Haru Yamada:** Well… no.

 **Shiro Kiruma:** So that would mean that our likely culprits would either be you two-

 **Kenji Taisei:** What the fuck did you say?! 

**Haru Yamada:** We would never-

 **Shiro Kiruma:** -If you would let me finish. It would either be you two, or one of the people who died.

 **Airi Kudo:** That's where we were in thinking, honestly.

 **Yukiji Chimon:** Wouldn't that be a little too convenient?

 **Akira Kazue:** Hm? What do you mean, Yukiji?

 **Yukiji Chimon:** Well… The culprit being dead already. If there was a real culprit, that would be the most convenient thing for them to do. Make it look like the killer and the suspect are both dead, so we don't question anything about it.

 **Yukiji Chimon Cont'd:** I believe in Airi… but I don't think she's right in saying that one of them could have killed the other. They were friends, it doesn't make sense. They were both wanting Shiro to die, with Kenji. They wouldn't argue.

 **Setsuki Yori:** Yeah, they were a team. They wouldn't turn on each other so easily.

 **Akira Kazue:** We thought the same thing about Emi, but she still killed Rio.

 **Yukiji Chimon:** Yeah, but Emi only knew Rio for a couple of days. We've been here at least a month, at this point, if they were gonna kill each other… why now?

 **Haru Yamada:** …

 **Kenji Taisei:** Come on, Haru. Yukiji has a point. Hana and Yukata had no ill will toward each other. You can't have an accident with a crossbow… this is a setup!

 **Haru Yamada:** Yeah, but…

 **Kenji Taisei:** But nothing, man! This is what I've been saying about Akira! She's been trying to get us all killed and now she's trying to split us up! We've gotta stick together and find the truth, Haru!

 **Akira Kazue:** Stop trying to make me a scapegoat! This is getting ridiculous, Kenji.

 **Kenji Taisei:** I'm not scapegoating you! You've been singling me and my friends out ever since we turned on Shiro!

 **Akira Kazue:** Kenji, please… If all of us don't vote for the right person, you might end up killing us. Please.. Listen to everyone! The culprit might be dead already!

 **Kenji Taisei:** That's impossible! How could the culprit be dead?!

 **Akira Kazue:** Because no one we know of could have been in the room at the time of the murder. Airi triggered the body discovery, and so did Setsuki and Yukiji. You and Haru were in a different part of the building! The only thing that could have happened, is they killed each other! Either that, or there's a way to go to the blue hall without going through the Key Swap!

 **Shiro Kiruma:** There is, but Haru and Kenji wouldn't have access to it unless they went through the No Mercy Room, first. And I'm fairly certain neither of them did.

 **Kenji Taisei:** What makes you say that!?

 **Shiro Kiruma:** If you went through the No Mercy Room, you would know exactly what I'm talking about… That place changes people, and you seem exactly the same!

 **Kenji Taisei:** You're going to have to prove that to me first. Prove it to me that Airi didn't attack Hana with a pipe for walking in on her killing Yukata!

 _Debate Starts_

 **Kenji Taisei:** Here's what happened. Airi locked Yukata in the room to kill him.

 **Haru Yamada:** She had Hana unlock the Medicine Room for her to go in.

 **Haru Yamada Cont'd:** She grabbed the Heart Key a little bit after me and Setsuki met, and locked Yukata in the lab.

 **Kenji Taisei:** And that's where she had set up the crossbow, shooting Yukata with a poisoned bolt.

 **Kenji Taisei Cont'd:** Hana walked in and spotted this, and probably went to get help.

 **Haru Yamada:** So Airi panicked, and hit her with the iron pipe!

 **Akira Kazue:** Didn't you hear me explain how the body discovery announcement works!? You need three people to spot the body, who weren't the killer!

 **Yukiji Chimon:** He could have changed the rules, since there's less people.

 **Monokuma:** Maybe I did~ If there were 3 people left alive, if one died, you wouldn't have 3 to discover the body!

 **Monokuma Cont'd:** Or maybe I didn't, who knows?!

 **Akira Kazue:** You know, you jackass!

 **Kenji Taisei Cont'd:** Then, when she finished killing Yukata with the crossbow, she poisoned Hana and left her to die!

 **Shiro Kiruma: I'll carve out the truth!**

 **Shiro Kiruma:** Kenji, you're missing something paramount to the crime scene. Specifically, the condition of the Iron pipe.

 **Kenji Taisei:** What the hell are you talking about?

 **Shiro Kiruma:** Don't you remember, or were you too busy fighting with Akira. The iron pipe leaning against the door was spotless. If Airi hit Hana with it, it would have a scuff on it, a blood stain, anything! But it was perfectly clean. And if she missed, it would be a mark on the wall.

 **Shiro Kiruma Cont'd:** That means it either wasn't used, or wasn't used as a striking weapon!

 **Haru Yamada:** Wasn't used as a striking weapon?

 **Setsuki Yori:** What do you mean, Shiro?

 **Shiro Kiruma:** Hana was never hit! Not a single time. She has no evidence of a blow to her head, in fact… she barely has any injuries at all.

 **Akira Kazue:** I remember she had a bruise on her neck… Could someone hit her in the neck with the pipe?

 **Airi Kudo:** Maybe not hit her in the neck with the pipe… but they could have done something else with the pipe.

 **Shiro Kiruma:** Something else that can be done with an iron pipe…

( _Shiro looked down at the floor in thought, trying to ignore the pain of his injured hand, before finding an answer_ )

 **Shiro Kiruma: That has to be it!**

 **Shiro Kiruma Cont'd:** What if… she was strangled?

 **Yukiji Chimon:** Strangled? With a pipe?

 **Airi Kudo:** You can be strangled with anything if it pushed on your windpipe hard enough. Either pinning her to the floor, or pulling from behind. Seeing that there was no bruises on Hana's hands, wrists, or shoulders, I suspect she was choked from behind.

 **Kenji Taisei:** Okay, so Airi strangled Hana with a pipe.

 **Airi Kudo:** Oh, come on!

 _Debate Starts_

 **Airi Kudo Cont'd:** Kenji, stop trying to pin this on who's pissing you off. Ask yourself, does it really make sense that I was somehow in the room before Hana?

 **Kenji Taisei:** You asked her to open the door!

 **Airi Kudo:** And how did I get the Heart Key to kill Yukata?

 **Kenji Taisei:** What?

 **Airi Kudo:** Yeah, you may be right that I had the opportunity to kill Hana, but for me to kill Hana, she would have to had caught me killing Yukata. That requires the Heart Key.

 **Airi Kudo Cont'd:** And I can tell you for a fact, I never met Haru after the meeting to kill Shiro!

 **Kenji Taisei:** There are ways you could've gotten the Heart Key!

 **Kenji Taisei Cont'd:** You clearly stole it from Haru when he tried to meet with Hana! Stop trying to run us around in circles by pretending to help!

 **Airi Kudo: I can see through that!**

 _Debate Stops_

 **Airi Kudo:** For Hana to catch me killing Yukata, that would require me killing Yukata. And while it may be possible that I could attack Hana… How could I be killing Yukata in the first place?

 **Kenji Taisei:** What the hell are you talking about?!

 **Airi Kudo:** Think about it. Has anyone seen me in the Green Hall a single time since the argument in the library? To get the key to the door from the Blue Hall, to the Key Swap. I would need Setsuki's key.

 **Airi Kudo Cont'd:** And to get the room Yukata died in, I would have to get the key from Haru, after I get the key from Setsuki.

 **Airi Kudo:** Let's ask them. Setsuki, Haru. Have I spoken to you up until the body discovery?

 **Setsuki Yori:** No.

 **Haru Yamada:** Nope.

 **Airi Kudo:** To kill Yukata, I would need to steal two keys, and to kill Hana, I would have had to use a third. The keys never left any of their persons… so how could I steal three keys!?

 **Haru Yamada:** Uhh.. I did lose the Heart Key. Hello?

 **Airi Kudo:** And I would need to steal the Club Key to even steal the Heart Key.

 **Kenji Taisei:** You could've just asked Setsuki to-

 **Airi Kudo:** I didn't talk to Setsuki! I talked to Yukiji! Yukiji had none of the keys! Setsuki met Haru, and then went to her room. I couldn't get her to help me, so I asked Yukiji!

 **Kenji Taisei:** The Heart Key was in your room!

 **Airi Kudo:** And I didn't use the Club Key! Setsuki had it!

 **Setsuki Yori:** I didn't give the Club Key to anyone… And I didn't lose it, either!

 **Airi Kudo Cont'd:** Haru spoke to Setsuki, Haru met with Setsuki and Yukiji. To get the key from Setsuki, I would have to ask Yukiji to ask Setsuki, to steal it from Haru! Do you understand how many steps your baseless accusation needs for it to hold water!? Maybe the easiest answer, is what makes the most sense!

 **Kenji Taisei:** And what's that!?

 **Airi Kudo:** The culprit… is already dead!

 **Kenji Taisei:** That… that doesn't make any sense! The culprit is dead?! What would that even mean?! Who would get punished if the culprit is dead?!

 **Shiro Kiruma:** All of us, if 'Nobody Wins.'

 **Akira Kazue:** The culprit... is already dead?

 **Shiro Kiruma:** It's a possibility that we can't leave out. Despite how counterproductive it may be, perhaps the killer wanted us to fail by assuming the culprit would still be alive.

 **Kenji Taisei:** Am I the only one here thinking logically!? Why would someone start a class trial if they're dead!? Why wouldn't they just kill you instead!?

 **Shiro Kiruma:** …I'm not sure.

 **Akira Kazue:** ...To break the game?

 **Yukiji Chimon:** Huh? Break the game? What do you mean?

 **Akira Kazue:** The idea that the culprit and the victim are both dead could mean two things… The first one, is that the killer succeeded in commiting a murder, but succumbed to their wounds.

 **Akira Kazue Cont'd:** The other… would be that the killer committed suicide after the murder, in order to make a situation that no one wins.

 **Haru Yamada:** Hana killed Yukata then killed herself?! What kind of nonsense are you talking about?!

 **Akira Kazue:** Look, we can't prove any of us went to the rooms… So maybe that might be an option.

 **Kenji Taisei:** But… It's fucking backwards! Why would either of them do that? It makes no goddamn sense!

 **Monokuma:** Maybe you don't know your friends like you think you do, Kenji~

 **Kenji Taisei:** Shut your goddamn mouth! I know them better than you do!

 **Monokuma:** But I caught it on camera! I know what happened! Puhuhu~

 **Shiro Kiruma:** You don't mean… Son of a bitch!

 **Akira Kazue:** What?

 **Shiro Kiruma:** I just… I just realized why one of the prizes was what it is… And it would explain why I think both culprits are dead.

 **Akira Kazue:** W-what!?

 **Kenji Taisei:** Look, I call bullshit. They didn't kill each other! There has to be a way to prove it!

 **Shiro Kiruma:** Kenji, I know this is hard to accept, but we can't just shut out the idea.

 **Airi Kudo:** If there's a chance this is possible… even the slimmest, slightest chance.. Then it's worth investigating. If it's wrong, we'll throw it out.

 **Yukiji Chimon:** I don't get it… Why kill someone if you don't want to graduate?

 **Haru Yamada:** Akira, Airi… Are you guys assuming the worst of us?

 **Shiro Kiruma:** I can explain what happened, just hear me out! Stop putting on your blinders! Optimism can't get you through a class trial!

 **Kenji Taisei:** I'm not putting on blinders if I'm refusing to hear your cynical bullshit, Kiruma!

 **Shiro Kiruma:** You are psychologically blocking yourself from considering the idea that either of them could do it. They're your friends, I understand… But you're acting like they CAN'T do it!

 **Shiro Kiruma Cont'd:** Open your eyes, Kenji! This isn't a normal situation we're in, we're being brought to the threshold of despair, and acting out of desperation. None of us are as good as we think we are!

 **Kenji Taisei:** Oh, get off your high horse. Don't you know what you did!?

 **Shiro Kiruma:** **I KNOW WHAT I DID!  
**  
( _Shiro Kiruma began to tear up, taking off his glasses to wipe them on his coat, the courtroom drew silent._ )

 **Shiro Kiruma:** I know what I did… Kenji. I was horrible. I thought I knew what I was doing… I thought I was in control... But I turned into a sadistic piece of shit, and I was none the wiser… Kenji… The truth is going to hurt. Please, work with Akira and I.

 **Kenji Taisei:** I refuse to breathe the same air as you, motherfucker… You killed Akami and got away with it. Why the fuck should we listen to you!?

 **Akira Kazue:** Because he could be right! Bad people can be right! Bad people can change! That's the entire point of Justice!

 **Haru Yamada:** I… I have to stand with Kenji. It doesn't matter if Shiro's changed or not, it doesn't mean he's right or that we should listen to him.

 **Airi Kudo:** Haru, that doesn't make sense! Kenji's just trying to divide people!

 **Shiro Kiruma:** He's trying to preserve his perception of his friends. And of me.

 **Setsuki Yori:** And you think there's something wrong with that?! I think we should believe in Hana and Yukata! 

**Akira Kazue:** Yukiji, you don't believe Kenji either, do you?

 **Yukiji Chimon:** I just… I can't believe Shiro. He's lied to us so much…

 **Akira Kazue:** He lost his fingers just to figure out what was happening!

 **Yukiji Chimon:** But… he's done nothing but hurt people… he hurt you before the first murder even started, Akira… he kneed you in the chest!

 **Shiro Kiruma:** I know! But please… just this once. Believe me…

 **Monokuma: Spliiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiit Opinion!**

 **Monokuma Cont'd:** Oooh~ Things are getting spicy! Is it time for a Full-Scale Debate? I think it's time for a Full-Scale Debate! The teams are #CulpritDead and #CulpritAlive! Pick your team and let's get debating! Kyahaha~

( _The podiums lit up with buttons for #CulpritAlive and #CulpritDead. Kenji pressed #CulpritAlive, his podium lighting red. Akira took #CulpritDead and her podium turned blue. Others joined, the podiums shuffling into position next to each other. On Kenji's side were Haru, Yukiji and Setsuki while Akira only had Airi and Shiro._ )

 **Monokuma:** We're split down the middle! Kinda. Turns out splitting 7 is hard, unless we use a bandsaw. Anybody got a bandsaw?

 **Monokuma Cont'd:** Or maybe a Sawzall. It saws all, y'know!

 _Full-Scale Debate Start_

 **Is the Culprit Already Dead? Begin!**

 **Kenji Taisei:** How could the **culprit** already be dead?

 **Akira Kazue:** The **culprit** killed the victim in the adjacent room. They had the means to do so with the crossbow.

 **Yukiji Chimon:** Why **poison** Yukata when he was already shot with a crossbow?

 **Airi Kudo:** The crossbow bolt was tipped with **poison** , to time the deaths closer together.

 **Haru Yamada:** How did Yukata get to the **Lab** if the culprit didn't have the right keys?

 **Shiro Kiruma:** The culprit had another way to get to the **Lab** , bypassing the key exchange.

 **Setsuki Yori:** Wasn't the medicine room unlocked when the **body** was discovered? Everybody had a chance to go in that room!

 **Airi Kudo:** Yukiji, Setsuki and I were the ones to cause the **body** discovery. Shiro and Akira had alibis, and Haru and Kenji were secluded in another part of the building. Nobody had the chance.

 **Yukiji Chimon:** Why would they kill each other? Wouldn't they want to kill **Shiro**?

 **Akira Kazue:** Not killing **Shiro** was a premeditated decision. They wanted to kill the rest of us, instead.

 **Setsuki Yori:** Could the culprit have **poisoned** Hana before she entered the medicine room?

 **Airi Kudo:** The only person who could have **poisoned** Hana would either be Hana or Yukata. Nobody else had the opportunity.

 **Haru Yamada:** Where the hell did the **crossbow** come from? There weren't any weapons in the equipment room!

 **Shiro Kiruma:** The culprit most likely gained the **crossbow** from the No Mercy Room.

 **Kenji Taisei:** Why should we **believe** anything Shiro is saying!?

 **Akira Kazue:** Because if we don't **believe** Shiro, we could all die!

 **#CulpritDead: This is our answer!**

 _Full-Scale Debate Stops_

 _The podiums lose their colors and reshuffled back to their positions_

 **Akira Kazue:** Shiro was forced to pay a cost… He chose to cut off his fingers for information that he otherwise wouldn't have… We have no choice to believe him!

 **Shiro Kiruma:** I kind of wish I didn't learn what I did. But… Then we really would lose, because we're sorely lacking a lot of context for what happened without it.

 **Setsuki Yori:** Well, if you think you've got the answers…

 **Shiro Kiruma:** I have information, but it's hard to discern what's useful. The first piece of information, and the most obvious one, is how the room works. 

**Shiro Kiruma Cont'd:** The No Mercy Room is a room of various puzzles which the person inside has to solve in order to complete it under a one-hour time limit. However, there is a way to bypass the puzzles. A person can pay Monokuma large amounts of Monocoins to skip puzzles and pick up to five different prizes.

 **Setsuki Yori:** Monokuma seriously offered an easy path for Monocoins?

 **Monokuma:** Hey, some people don't have the patience for room puzzles! I want the Killing Game to be friendly for all intelligence levels! Not everyone's a smart-ass like Shiro is.

 **Shiro Kiruma:** I didn't collect Monocoins, so I had to pay a different price. My fingers. Each finger was correlated with a prize.

 **Shiro Kiruma Cont'd:** The first one was the murder weapon, a crossbow. This one would have costed me my thumb. I had no use for it, since I knew what the murder weapon was, I chose to skip this prize. I assume it came with ammunition, or at least a single shot.

 **Haru Yamada:** So what was the second prize?

 **Shiro Kiruma:** A packet of poison that can be easily stirred into a glass of water. It leaves no scent, and I assume no taste. This one would have costed me my index finger.

 **Akira Kazue:** I… I didn't see a packet like that.

 **Monokuma:** I moved it, sorry!

 **Akira Kazue:** Why!? That's tampering with evidence!

 **Monokuma:** Well.. it's a prize, silly! You weren't supposed to know it was a packet of poison, you were supposed to know it was just poison! 

**Yukiji Chimon:** Then why didn't you take the crossbow out? It's a prize too, right?

 **Monokuma:** It was the murder weapon! I'd be tampering with a crime scene to do that! That, and it had a clamp on it, y'think these little fingers can unscrew a clamp!?

 **Setsuki Yori:** You have claws! You could pry the crossbow out!

 **Airi Kudo:** Guys, we're getting off topic. We need to focus on the prizes.

 **Setsuki Yori:** Oh, so keep our eyes on the prize...s.

 **Airi Kudo:** Stop it, you.

 **Shiro Kiruma:** Judging from the Monokuma File, Hana was poisoned with this substance, which led to her brain hemmorage. Yukata has Cyanide listed in his Monokuma file.

 **Shiro Kiruma Cont'd:** There was a glass of water on Hana's table sitting next to the packet. I assume this is how Hana was poisoned. I think the fact one of us saw it, Monokuma decided that was enough, and quietly removed it from the scene to keep the prize a secret until I revealed it.

 **Yukiji Chimon:** So that explains how Hana was poisoned, but what other prizes were there?

 **Shiro Kiruma:** The third prize is difficult to see, but once I knew about it, and searched for it.. I could find it. A nearly invisible, almost unbreakable wire that could have costed my middle finger. I almost chopped it off, but I thought knowing of the wire's existence would mean I could search for it.

 **Akira Kazue:** Well.. Where did you find it?

 **Shiro Kiruma:** It was tied on the trigger of the crossbow, and drew across the room to wrap around Hana's wrist. The wire was strong enough to survive Akira tripping on it when she ran into the room.  
 **  
Monokuma:** It was a wire made of silver, only a few nanometers thick! You can barely even see it, and it's strong enough for it to not tear! And to ensure that, the wire was coated in a thin layer of diamond! And diamond is unbreakable, don'tcha know!

 **Haru Yamada:** That's a strong ass wire.

 **Setsuki Yori:** So, why was this crazy diamond wire used on the crossbow?

 **Shiro Kiruma:** To pull the trigger without touching the weapon. It was wrapped around Hana's wrist, and taut. If she moved at all, the trigger would have fired. Even if Hana was succumbing to poison, firing the crossbow was guaranteed with the wire wrapped around one of her arms.

 **Shiro Kiruma Cont'd:** And that explains the clamp holding the crossbow to the desk. It was so the crossbow was armed and ready without Hana touching it.

 **Kenji Taisei:** And.. why would she not need to hold it?

 **Shiro Kiruma:** If it wasn't her intention to fire it. Hana was unconscious, she had bruises on her neck from being strangled with the iron pipe… she could have gotten the string wrapped on her arm while she was asleep, and fired it when she woke up.

 **Kenji Taisei:** Yukata was in the other room! How could he have done that!?

 **Shiro Kiruma:** With the fourth prize. A special key.

 _(Shiro reached into his breast pocket, pulling out a black and red key marked with a capital J.)  
_  
 **Yukiji Chimon:** Uhm… Shiro? What key is that?

 **Shiro Kiruma:** The Joker Key. It unlocks every room in this entire building, and could have been used by the culprit to skip the Club Key and get into the Blue Hall. I needed to know where this was, and how it worked. I lost my ring finger for this key.

 **Shiro Kiruma Cont'd:** Yukata could have taken Hana to the Medicine Room, knocked her out, and set up the crossbow so when he locked himself in the other room, it would fire and kill him.

 **Kenji Taisei:** Oh come on, this is a load of bull!

 **Haru Yamada:** Yeah, where's your proof?!

 **Akira Kazue:** I think I remember something about the crime scene that could be what Shiro is basing his theory on...

 **Shiro Kiruma: It has to be this!**

 **Shiro Kiruma:** There's a bloodstain from Yukata's side, leading from the window, all the way to the back wall. This meant that Yukata was standing point blank in front of the crossbow, waited for Hana to trigger the mechanism, and intentionally shot himself without Hana getting up from her dying place.

 **Kenji Taisei:** Why was the bolt poisoned!?

 **Shiro Kiruma** : To make sure he died before Hana did, making him the victim, and trying to frame Hana in the process.

 **Airi Kudo:** There's the possibility that he forced Hana to poison the bolt for him. If Yukata was forcing Hana to poison a crossbow bolt and shooting him, did Yukata kill himself, or Hana kill him?

 **Monokuma:** If Hana poisoned the crossbow, and Yukata made her fire it, Hana would be the culprit! Just a little warning so you can't say I'm being unfair!  
 **  
Yukiji Chimon:** Hana would be the culprit if she poisoned the bolt... Even if she didn't want to fire it? Isn't that a little cruel…?

 **Monokuma:** To be cruel is to be kind, Yukiji!

 **Yukiji Chimon:** That doesn't really answer my question…

 **Monokuma:** The answer is five!

 **Yukiji Chimon:** Now you're doing that on purpose…

 **Monokuma:** Of course… if you have a way to prove Hana wasn't forced into poisoning the crossbow.. Then we could fix this little tangent, and get to the good part!

 _Debate Starts_

 **Akira Kazue** : So.. We have to figure out if Yukata applied the poison that ensured he died first?

 **Monokuma:** Yep! Get debating, nerds!

 **Kenji Taisei:** How are we supposed to prove that! We found the poison in… Oh my god..

 **Yukiji Chimon:** What is it, Kenji?

 **Kenji Taisei:** We… we found the Cyanide in Hana's hand. She was holding the bottle…

 **Setsuki Yori:** Y-y-you're saying Hana could have done it!?

 **Akira Kazue:** Calm down, there has to be a way we can prove Hana didn't poison the bolt…

 **Shiro Kiruma:** If I recall, Airi has photographic memory. Perhaps she can tell us where the poison was, the last time she saw it.

 **Airi Kudo:** The poison was on the top shelf on the far right side.

 **Kenji Taisei:** But, Yukata and Hana could both get it down, right? How are we supposed to prove that only one of them could get it!?

 **Akira Kazue: I heard it!**

 _Debate Stops_

 **Akira Kazue:** Hana couldn't have gotten the poison bottle, she wouldn't be able to reach it!

 **Haru Yamada:** She plays basketball, she could hop!

 **Akira Kazue:** How tall was Hana and Yukata, Airi?

 **Airi Kudo:** Hana was about 4'8, and Yukata was about 5'11. Wingspan wise, Yukata had a good 15 inches of reach over her.

 **Yukiji Chimon:** But didn't she have to reach higher shelves when you had her help you?

 **Airi Kudo:** Yes, and we got a step stool for those bottles, so if Hana grabbed the cyanide, the step stool would've been in the Medicine Room with her.

 **Shiro Kiruma:** And there wasn't a step stool anywhere near the cabinet. So that means-

 **Kenji Taisei: This one's between you and me!**

 _The podiums shifted back until Kenji and Shiro were facing each other alone, the spotlights shining on them, a blue and red bar appearing on the screen)_

 **Kenji Taisei:** Look, there's no proof that Yukata even went into the No Mercy Room! You're just assuming that!

 **Kenji Taisei Cont'd:** Yukata wasn't missing a single finger when we inspected his body! So to say that he won any of the same prizes you did is a goddamn hoax!

 **Shiro Kiruma** : But you remember, there's a workaround.

 **Kenji Taisei:** According to you! You're trying to make it sound like you can complete the No Mercy room without losing any fingers, but the only proof we have is you showing up missing fingers, that could have been part of a plot!

 **Kenji Taisei Cont'd:** Why is Yukata fine if he went through the same ordeals as you!?

 **Shiro Kiruma:** Because he used his Monocoins to bypass the puzzles and bought all the prizes!

 **Kenji Taisei:** That doesn't make sense! Yukata used his Monocoins to buy the prizes? Anyone could have used their Monocoins to buy the prizes!

 **Kenji Taisei Cont'd:** Anyone could have had access to Yukata's card case and stole his Monocoins!

 **Shiro Kiruma: How did you know his card case had Monocoins?**

 **Kenji Taisei:** W-wha..?

 **Shiro Kiruma:** You heard me… How did you know his card case had Monocoins? Did anyone else know his case had Monocoins?

 **Kenji Taisei:** He showed me that he had them!

 **Shiro Kiruma:** If he has them, then he can use them. Do you recall how many coins were in his case?

 **Kenji Taisei:** Well, a lot… like, thousands. The monocoins were all the way up to the latch of the case.

 **Shiro Kiruma:** When I found the case, it was open, and nowhere near that amount. It had a lot, but.. Only a few hundred, off the top of my head.

 **Kenji Taisei:** But, that doesn't mean he did it!  
 **  
Shiro Kiruma:** If someone needed to skip rooms in the No Mercy Room, then they would need Monocoins. If no one else knew Yukata had an excess of Monocoins except for you, then no one would search for his card case.

 **Shiro Kiruma Cont'd: They would assume all Yukata had was cards!**

 **Kenji Taisei:** D-damn it!

( _Shiro's blue bar flashed at 60%, Kenji's shattering.)_

 **Shiro Kiruma:** The only people who would use Yukata's monocoins would be you, or Yukata. No one else saw the inside of the case, unless they wished to speak up now.

 **Shiro Kiruma Cont'd** : Airi, you were friends with Yukata… Do you know the inside of his card case?

 **Airi Kudo:** I never played cards with him, we mostly chit-chatted and played foosball.

 **Setsuki Yori:** I didn't play cards with him…

 **Haru Yamada:** Nope. Never.

 **Yukiji Chimon** : He didn't like chess, so I didn't play with him much.

 **Akira Kazue:** Card games confuse me, so I don't bother. 

**Kenji Taisei:** Setsuki and Hana drank juice with Yukata. They could have seen his Monocoins!

 **Setsuki Yori:** Uhm.. Kenji?

 **Kenji Taisei:** What?

 **Setsuki Yori:** He took the coins out from his pocket… He didn't have the case with him.

 **Kenji Taisei:** Ah! D-damn it…

 **Haru Yamada:** And we can't really ask Hana cuz she's dead and all… We'll have to go with Setsuki on this one.

 **Kenji Taisei:** This can't be happening.

 **Monokuma:** Ohoho~ Kenji's friends killed each other? He's cursed. I bet he adopted 15 black cats while eating a mirror at a ladder store!

 **Kenji Taisei:** Shut up, Monokuma! You know I'm afraid of cats!

 **Monokuma:** And I bet that's why! Such a tragic backstory you have! You deserve an Emmy.

 **Kenji Taisei:** Eat a dick.

 **Monokuma:** That wasn't a creative insult for such a COMPELLING character, Kenji! Did 15 million fans and 13 seasons turn you into a lazy author avatar? Get yer Mary Sue ass off my show!

 **Kenji Taisei:** I'm ignoring you.

 **Shiro Kiruma** : I might as well reveal the fifth prize… I was taken to a special room you can only access if you complete the room, and choose your pinky finger for the prize. The Torture Room. 

**Shiro Kiruma Cont'd:** And… the prize.. Was the thing I wish I could take back. The Despair Tape.

 **Setsuki Yori** : Despair Tape?

 **Monokuma:** What other kind of tape would be in there? Duct? Electrical? Rainbow's Remedy?

 **Shiro Kiruma:** The tape was the actual video footage of every single murder that's happened so far, including mine… And after those, was footage of the massacre that happened at this very school.

 **Shiro Kiruma Cont'd:** I learned a lot from watching it… Like how Emi's murder was framed by someone else… and the fact the Mastermind is a real person, the very same one who staged the shooting of this school.

 **Kenji Taisei:** W...wha….

 **Shiro Kiruma:** I'll explain later, but what Monokuma told me that was the most important, was the culprit was held down and forced to watch it three of four time-

 **Kiko: Arf! Arf! GRRR!**

 **Haru Yamada:** I've had enough… Stop this, Shiro! I'm not letting you drag us into your sick mind! You've manipulated me enough, goddamnit!

 **Shiro Kiruma:** Haru… What's wrong?

 **Haru Yamada:** Do you know what kind of damage you're doing to us as a group!? Kenji's friends killing each other, Kenji's girlfriend being framed, Yukata being brainwashed into a serial killer… You're trying to destroy what little hopes he has left!

 _(Haru starts to cry with angry, vengeful tears.)  
_  
 **Haru Yamada Cont'd:** We're not saints, and no one told us we have to be… but to make this whole class trial turn into this upside down, fucked up nightmare is going too far! 

**Shiro Kiruma:** You think I made up this whole plan while trying to kill myself in front of Akira? Do you think no one else suffered but Kenji? We all suffered!

 **Haru Yamada:** No. You made us suffer. You've done NOTHING but make us suffer! Every single thing you've done was to hurt someone! Every single thing you've done was to spite someone else. And you want us to believe you!? You're wrong. You're SO fucking wrong!

 **Shiro Kiruma:** I know what I did, you don't have to tell me! I saw how heartless I wa-

 **Haru Yamada:** Saw how heartless you were!? You had no fucking heart to begin with!

 _(Haru starts punching a hand against his desk, Kenji's eyes glazed over at this display)  
_  
 **Haru Yamada Cont'd** : You fucking killed Akami! He didn't do anything to hurt you! He just wanted out like everyone else, and as soon as he showed a sign of weakness you fucking eviscerated him! You're nothing but a monster pretending to be a human! You prey on the weak, and destroy them by making them fucking trust you!

 **Shiro Kiruma:** Haru…

 **Haru Yamada:** I'm not letting you kill any of my friends' hopes! It's all they have left! We've lost so many people since we started, and we have to lose more?

 **Haru Yamada Cont'd:** Not only do we have to lose them… We have to lose who they were, too!? If Yukata did it, then we can never look at him the same, and are you proud of that? Not only do you have to kill people, you have to disgrace their memory too!?

 **Shiro Kiruma:** I'm not disgracing their memory, I'm telling you the truth!

 **Haru Yamada:** He was not tortured into killing Hana. There's no fucking way!

 **Shiro Kiruma:** He stole your key to frame Airi!

 **Haru Yamada:** Then how did he write the message!?

 **Shiro Kiruma:** He used some of his own blood from an earlier cut to write on the wall with Hana's hand. It's why the blood was on her fingers!

 **Haru Yamada:** Shut up! Just shut up! You destroy everything with your venomous words!

 **Shiro Kiruma:** You have to believe me Haru, I'm just trying to get us through this trial alive!

 **Haru Yamada:** Yukata wasn't tortured! How can you prove he was tortured!?

 _ **Bruises On His Wrists.**_

 **Shiro Kiruma: With everything I have left!**

 _(Shiro rolls up his sleeve, revealing a set of bruises on both of his wrists.)  
_  
 **Shiro Kiruma Cont'd** _:_ He was forced into the chair, forced to watch. At the end of it, there was no way he could fight the Despair… He had bruises on his wrists as he struggled to break free, as he struggled to maintain his own sanity. Once he was released… he thought death was the only escape. Just like I did… But I was lucky enough to only have to sit through the video one time.

 **Haru Yamada:** …

 _(Haru sunk to his knees)  
_  
 **Shiro Kiruma:** I'll explain everything, so we can vote.

 **Shiro Kiruma: This is the finale!**

 **Shiro Kiruma Cont'd:** The murder plot started just after the fight with Akira and Kenji, that ended with both of them being incapacitated. As you know, this argument was over the plan to kill me, and escape the bunker Motive.

We went our separate ways, to try and avoid each other. Akira and I were stuck in the prison, Setsuki went to her room… Airi went to work on her chemistry, and asked Yukiji to help. Kenji and Haru returned to the Green Hall, and the Culprit decided to settle things on their own.

The culprit was meticulous in their collection of Monocoins, probably thinking it would have some use to them in times of trouble. Presented with the idea of danger, the culprit decided to take the Monocoins with them, just in case.

They went to the No Mercy Room, a puzzle room with the reward of several prizes upon completion. Monokuma offered the ability to skip most of the puzzles with an absurd amount of Monocoins, an amount our culprit could pay.

Uninhibited by having to pay the typical cost of losing their fingers, the culprit picked all five prizes that Monokuma offered on completion of the room. A crossbow, a poison, an invisible thread, a special key, and what Monokuma called the truth. Our culprit was awarded their gifts, but... the truth was one you couldn't choose to ignore.

It was a Despair Tape, meant to break down and mentally obliterate any person who dared to watch it. As the culprit struggled to escape the chair, wrist guards collapsed on both of their arms, causing large amounts of bruising.

A few hours later, our newly despaired culprit was released into the world, and decided to forge a new plan… to kill everyone, by completely ignoring Monokuma's motive. Armed with the Joker Key, a prize from the No Mercy Room that lets them unlock any door, and used this to frame several people by deliberately messing with our perception of the keys.

They took an iron pipe from the equipment room, and promptly pickpocketed Haru of his Heart Key, so they can plant it later in Airi's room and pin it on her, because she lives in the same hallway as the crime scene. After taking Haru's key, the culprit used the Joker Key to slip into the Blue Hall, and begin their complex murder plot.

They mixed the next gift, a powerful, almost invisible poison into a glass of water, the glass most likely taken from their own room, to offer it to Hana as a drink. Hana drank it, not realizing it was poison. The culprit then hid the Joker Key in the fan at the back of Hana's room.

The culprit hid their card carrying case, the thing they were using to hold all of their Monocoins under her bed, and asked for Hana to follow them to the medicine room, once Hana started showing signs she was sick. As Hana slipped into the room, the culprit followed, grabbing the iron pipe they hid somewhere in the hallway, and attacking Hana from behind.

They choked Hana until she was unconscious, and then used their other prizes to set up a killing rig. The string was tied to a crossbow, secured in place in front of a window that connects both rooms. The culprit grabbed a vial of poison and dipped it in cyanide, to make sure they were the victim.

After tying the string around Hana's arm, and connecting it back to the crossbow, they took one of Hana's hands, and used some of his own blood to write 'Nobody Wins' on the wall with the blood they drew from their knuckle, using Hana's hand to write the message.

The culprit went to the room adjacent to the medicine room, the lab. They opened the door, locked it with the Heart Key, and then stowed it in Airi's room. Rushing back to the lab, Hana came to as the culprit locked themselves inside to make it look like someone else trapped them there.

Hana moved her arm, pulling the string, and firing the crossbow and hitting the culprit straight in the chest, the cyanide spreading much more quickly than the poison in Hana's system. The culprit died before their victim, who succumbed to the poison a few minutes later.

This confusing murder was an attempt to get us to think Hana killed the culprit, when the culprit instead fabricated a suicide that looked like a murder.

That culprit…unfortunately, was **Yukata Watanabe, the Ultimate Card Game Player.**

 **Kenji Taisei** : …

 _(Kenji froze, his head slowly sinking lower as he slammed his face against the desk, pounding it with his fist in anger)  
_  
 **Kenji Taisei Cont'd:** No...  
 **  
Akira Kazue:** I… I can't believe it.

 **Setsuki Yori:** This isn't fair…

 **Yukiji Chimon:** I guess that's it, huh…?  
 **  
Haru Yamada:** …

 **Monokuma:** Jeez, you guys act like someone di- Oh yeah, someone did. Woops!

 **Kenji Taisei:** Goddamn it… this isn't happening Yukata didn't-

 **Akira Kazue:** He did, Kenji. Let's…. Let's just vote. We don't have any goodbyes to say… and I just want this to be over already.

 **Kenji Taisei:** This is bullshit! There's no way! Yukata was my bro! He was there for me when you all turned your backs on me! He helped me investigate the theater and hospital! H-he… he was better than this!

 _(Kenji grabbed the sides of his head, tears streaming down his face)_

 **Kenji Taisei:** Goddamn it! Why did you have to die, Yukata?! Why did you kill Hana?! She was your friend, she was our friend!

 **Monokuma:** We got a special message from our culprit after the vote! Regardless of if you're right or not, I'll play it anyway.

 **Kenji Taisei:** Fuck you! This is all a lie! How much shit did you make up just to make everyone suffer!? Do you want money!? How much time have you wasted on destroying the lives of a bunch of normal fucking people!?

 **Monokuma:** Oh I dun-  
 **  
Kenji Taisei: FUCKING ANSWER ME!**

 **Monokuma:** …

 **Monokuma Cont'd:** ...Well. It's because I hate you, Kenji. I hate all of you. I hate everything you, and your hopeful little world stands for.

You delude yourself with dreams, goals, being 'Ultimates' at everything… Character traits, personalities, branding… But how much does it mean? Here's your answer. It means fucking nothing, Kenji. All your dreams and goals are just staving off the fact you're going to die one day, and everything you've ever worked for is going to be erased.

And yet, you act like you matter. You act like having friends will get you out of these class trials, will stop you from having to watch die… You act like the world cares about you, and your friends.

We're flying through space on a giant rock, every minute, we end up at a place we'll never see again, and yet you want the world to kowtow to your ideals? What kind of vain, ignorant, selfish fuckface do you think you are? No one cares what God you die for, Kenji. No one cares what friends you have. People who see this, people who know who you are will never comprehend what you actually believe in.

They might believe in an image of who you could be, but you'll never actually be the person you think you are to that person. But you lie. You lie that your friends care. You lie that being true to yourself, being true to your friends will preserve their innocence when put in times of trouble.

They never do, Kenji. At the end of the day, you're the only perspective you'll ever feel emotions from. Your stupid, over emotional meatsuit will die with all your stupid, emotional meatsuit feelings. And will any of your friends understand you for who you really are?

Never. Fucking never, Kenji. No one will ever understand you. Everyone wants to exist, and they fear what happens when they die… and they will choose between saving their friends, and existing. The reason these class trials happen is because people will choose themselves over their friends over, and over, and over, and over… It won't stop Kenji.

Everyone you love will die, or kill each other, until you die yourself. The only way out of this rotten world, is if you die and erase your entire thumbprint from society. Until then, you have to suffer like the rest of us. This is despair, Kenji.

Welcome to it.

 **Kenji Taisei:** …

 **Monokuma:** Anyways, Voting Time! Will you correctly guess the Blackened? Or choose the painfully wrong one?

 _(The Voting Time screen returned with Reiko and Hana's faces greyed out Yukata's was still lit and available to press, but had an orange X over his face. Kenji, and the rest of the room stunned in silence, cast their votes)  
_ _ **  
**_ _Yukata Watanabe: 7 votes_

 _No other students received a single vote  
_  
 _(A silence filled the room, when the jackpot sound was hit, and Monocoins rained out from all the remaining student podiums.)  
_  
 **Monokuma:** This is awkward. Ya pinned the right guy, and we don't have anyone to execute. I wanna use my little hammer thing, but it wouldn't do anything.

 _(Monokuma struck his gavel against at the button, the screen remaining black behind him.)_

 **Monokuma:** See?! Dammit, Yukata. You make things suck even when you're dead! At least we get a special message from the culprit after a little break! See ya soon!


	48. EXECUTION 4

EXECUTION 4: **Just kidding, nothing happened!**

 ****"Hoo boy, this is awkward. I don't really have anything set up for this… Do you guys want to watch a movie?" Monokuma asked, scratching the back of his head. "I'm pretty sure those comic book guys released like their 100th crossover film." he said, everyone else in the room looking frustrated.

"We just found out one of our friends killed another friend… and you want to watch a superhero movie!?" Kenji shouted.

"Well I haven't been keeping up with it! Running a Killing game's Super hard… I might miss some continuity stuff. Who knows what could have happened to the team!?" Monokuma said, exaggeratingly worried.

"Who cares?" Akira said. "Besides, this is just some stupid way for you to talk about that tape you brought up, right?"

"Oh, I guess I forgot. Well, Yukata asked me to show you this, regardless of if you got the culprit right or not!" Monokuma said, summoning up the button and smacking it with his gavel. The television screen behind Monokuma cut to a scene Kenji couldn't imagine. Yukata was standing against the window, a crossbow pointed at his chest as he waited for Hana to wake up and pull on the thread to fire the weapon.

"Monokuma.. Look. I don't care if they get the culprit right or not. I need to say this, so you better be fucking listening!" Yukata shouted, voice filtered through the cheap sounding microphone picking up his voice. Kenji looked at the room beside him, 'Nobody Wins' was already written on the wall, and Yukata had a bloody knuckle that allowed him to force Hana to write it.

"I want to let you know something, Monokuma… I can't stand you… You're weak, frustrating.. And won't even confront us directly.. Instead forcing us to do this crap. I'm not doing this cuz of you… I'm doing this because I hate you!" Yukata shouted, his eyes focused on Hana's unconscious body through the window.

"I don't know how much you've gotten away with in the year that I've forgotten… but knowing that you're the same kid who ordered those guys to shoot up the school, and force us into this… and the fact you forced me to watch it FOUR TIMES!? I will destroy your joy… Because you clearly think you won already, and this is your victory lap…" Yukata said, tightening one of his gloves, pressing against the tip of the crossbow with his chest.

"Well FUCK YOU! You don't win! I'm sorry to my friends for coming up with this plan without telling them, but.. I don't want to see them suffer anymore!" Yukata cried out, tears dripping down his face.

"I'm sorry Hana has to be part of this plan. She didn't want to do it, I tried to talk her into it, but she panicked and wanted me to cure her poison… But I told her it was too late, and I had to attack her for it to get her to cooperate. It makes me fucking sick." Yukata said.

"I have to do this, I have no choice. Hana doesn't understand… We're destroying each other! I have to follow through with this plan… We've lost so many people! We've destroyed each other, when we were best fucking friends! I don't want Monokuma to ever feel a single moment of joy in his fucking life, so I'll flip the table… I'll burn this killing game to the ground, and end our suffering all at once."

"Maybe the next life… We'll actually get to be normal again. Kenji… I'm sorry about everything that's happened.. But what I'm doing isn't your fault, and I hope when you fail the class trial… You'll understand why I feel the way I do. You're the best guy I know, you don't deserve this… I'm sorry this has to happen to you, but it's okay to lose, just this once… Just because… because..."

"We'll make Monokuma lose! And he'll have to suffer the rest of his GODDAMN LIF-" He was cut off, by Hana shooting him in the chest as she came to, a splatter of blood hitting the table as he stumbled back and pressed his shoulders again the back wall. The screen then turned to static.

"Nice try, Yukata. Too bad you're still a loser! Puhuhu~ Shiro has a brain like a damned hawk. He shut that down like it was NOTHING!" Monokuma started cackling, the rest of the students standing in shock at Yukata's words.

"Loser! Wastoid! Trash! Fucking worthless! Yukata was an insufferable idiot and deserved to have his plan unraveled! He somehow lost at losing, how do you do that!?" He cried out, Kenji hopping his podium to try and charge at the bear mascot.

"Don't you FUCKING DARE!" Kenji screamed at him, before getting quickly grabbed by Airi.

"Kenji, don't… We've had enough violence today." Airi stated, trying to calm him down as Kenji stopped writhing and began to cry, fists clenched so tight he was shaking. Airi was equally quaking as she tried to keep him in the hold. "It's… it's over…" she muttered, voice wavering.

"Eh, ya don't wanna punch me before I give you guys a reward! Instead of going back up to the campus and moping around.. I'm going to give you guys a prize!" Monokuma said, reaching behind his back with a playful fanfare to his voice.

"Da dada daaaaa~! MonoKey!" Monokuma announced, holding a key with his own face on the handle. "There's a room behind my shoulder that only the Monokey can open! I'll let you use it just this once, to find out what's inside!"

The remaining students looked behind Monokuma, seeing the door behind him. Monokuma passed the key to Akira, who quickly unlocked the door into what appeared to be a large lab. The lab hummed softly with fresh air as Monokuma hopped off his chair and ran over as everyone looked around surprised.

"Welcome to my big ol' air filtration system! This is why this whole place is up and running!" Monokuma announced, the surprise slowly wearing off.

"This is what you wanted to show us? The air filter?" Shiro asked.

"Yup! Neato, huh? Well… There's the air filter and the kid I kept trapped in here a year, nothing cool." Monokuma said casually, gasps filling the air.

"What?! You trapped someone in an air filter?! What is wrong with- don't answer that!" Akira shouted, running into the room.

"...Not in the air filter. I kept them in a little jail cell, actually. It's over near that closet." Monokuma pointed to a nearby glass door. Akira ran to the door, seeing that it was an entire room made of plexiglass on the side of the air filtration system, Sitting on the floor was a somewhat short kid wearing a black hoodie with the number 20 on the chest, faded blue jeans, and tattered sneakers. Atop his head, holding down his messy silver hair was a black and green baseball cap. The young man looked out to the group, looking confused and terrified. He looked like a ghost, somehow almost as pale as Yukiji.

"No way… it can't be..." He muttered out, his voice seemed worn thin, and reedy sounding, he walked up and pressed his hand to the glass, making a squeak as his skin dragged across it. "Is… is that you, Akira?" he asked, Akira's emergency training went into immediate effect as she charged the door and tried to speak through it.

"Are you okay!? Can you see how many fingers I'm holding up?" Akira asked, holding up three fingers. It was crazy how physically and emotionally exhausted everyone was, but as soon as she saw someone in danger, she instinctively went back to being a police cadet. The whole thing was exhausting to even watch.

"Uhh… Three..?" The young man said, blinking in confusion. "Akira, what's going on?! Are you like.. An illusion?" he asked, scratching a hand through his hat hair.

"How long have you been trapped in here!? Were you stuck in a locker? Do you know the bear?"

"...Oh no… I'm hallucinating again. Akira's asking me weird stuff! Damn it… I thought you guys were real!" The boy complained, stomping his foot on the concrete floor and headbutting the wall gently in frustration. "I.. I don't know how long I've been in here!" 

"Uhh.. I am real? I'm pretty sure I'm real." Akira said, patting her hands against her body to check. "Yeah. Everything's real. Looks like you're not hallucinating, citizen!" Akira said, flashing a thumbs up as she put on her best policewoman bravado to comfort a stressed citizen.

"Citizen? Akira… You know my name. We watched the World Series together, remember? You're not good at convincing me you're real."

"Uh… no? I don't think I've seen you before..." Akira said, grasping her chin in thought. "Hrm… maybe, there's something familiar about you…"

"..Wait! We have seen him! That's the Ultimate Lucky Student!" Kenji exclaimed, running up to the glass. "We saw his face in the audition tapes!"

Akira's eyes widened. "Oh yeah! He wasn't wearing that hat!" Akira said, hitting her fist in her open palm. "The hat he wore had a tiger on it!"

"I mean, he's the Ultimate Lucky Student, Akira, I assume he has more than one hat." Yukiji pointed out.

"I have a name, you guys…" the Ultimate Lucky Student said, crestfallen. Airi slowly walked over to the glass, knocking on it to get the hat-clad student's attention.

"Do you recognize me, Ultimate Lucky Student?" Airi asked, the student tilted his head and scratching his hair.

"Uh… no, not really. In fact, I was concerned… Where is the rest of our class? And why did I hallucinate someone I've never seen before?" he asked.

"Well, you didn't. I'm Airi Kudo. I'm a spy." Airi began.

"...Like James Bond?" he asked, eyes lighting up.

"No. James Bond was kind of an asshole. Now, tell me your name and I'll tell you the rest." Airi said, waving off the comparison with a hand.

"Naoki Tsukada. I uhh… missed the tryouts for the baseball team so I never got to be the Ultimate Baseball Star. I dunno why I needed to tell you my name, Kenji's right there." Naoki said.

 **Naoki Tsukada: Ultimate Lucky Student**

"Probably because Kenji forgot it. Everyone's memories were tampered with by Monokuma's experimenting. Some of our personalities seemed to change as well… I don't even know who I'm spying for." Airi explained. "But you seem to not have your mind altered. Could you tell us what happened before the killing game started?"

"Killing game? What killing game? When the school was attacked.. I hid. When I woke up, I was in that box… For the entire time. This is the first time anyone but the bear guy visited me." Naoki asked, as Akira fiddled with the key and opened the door for him. Monokuma quickly taking the key from her just afterward.

"Yeeoink!" Monokuma said.

"Hey!" Akira exclaimed. "Give that back!"

"Nope! That's all I wanted you guys doing. This key opens everything in the building! I need it!" Monokuma exclaimed

"It does?" Akira asked, scratching her head as Monokuma stowed the key behind his back, leaving the students looking at him in confusion.

"I guess I wanted to reveal Naoki because you guys just unlocked another hint! Airi was never a student in this school, and Naoki was originally the member of your class! Who knows who Airi works for?" Monokuma pointed out.

"Then why do you have Airi here!? Why was Naoki stuck in a glorified dog kennel!?" Akira exclaimed, shocked at this level of cruelty.

"There's only 16 seats in the trial room. I didn't want to add more podiums, so I put Naoki in a box after I captured Airi during her infiltration of the school." Monokuma explained.

"...Why?" Akira inquired.

"Naoki's more boring than Kenji and Kenji does all the same things an Ultimate Lucky Student does, so I thought it wouldn't matter. Ultimate Volunteer? Ultimate Lucky Student? They do the same thing, who cares." Monokuma said with a shrug.

"...I'm more boring than Kenji?" Naoki asked, sounding slightly offended.

"I'm boring!?" Kenji exclaimed, sounding even more offended.

"Yep! You both are so boring that I'm -aaawwwhn- I'm falling asleep just looking at the two of you! Your unique character traits are a hat and a sweater vest, what kinda crap is that!?" Monokuma shouted.

"...But I like my hat." Noaki said, grabbing his hat in offense.

"I updated all your Monopads with relevant information to Naoki, just to show you how boring he is!" Monokuma said.

 _Naoki Tsukada  
5'5, 115 lbs  
Likes: Baseball, Super Sentai, Gum, Video games  
Dislikes: Puzzles, Combs, Velcro, Not having a microwave_

"Bah! I'm getting out of here before I pass out like Shiro!" Monokuma said before vanishing from the room.

"...Shiro passed out? Where?" Akira asked, running out of the room and seeing Shiro slumped over on his podium. "Oh crap! Shiro!" she exclaimed, running over to him. She went to check his pulse, others rushing over to help her out.

"He's still got a pulse. Airi, help me carry him." Akira said, Airi nodding and grabbing Shiro's arm, draping it over her shoulder. Akira took his other arm as Naoki ran over and got a good look at Shiro, eyes wide.

"Wh-what happened to him?! What happened to his hand?!" he asked, shaking slightly. "W-why are we in a courtroom?!"

"...We have a lot we need to catch you up on." Airi said as she and Akira started to carry Shiro off. "But first, we gotta get Shiro to the hospital…"

The group headed for the elevator, Naok standing there with confusion and fear settling in his eyes.

 **CHAPTER 4 COMPLETE  
**

 **Naoki Tsukada has joined the party!**

 **8 STUDENTS ALIVE**


	49. Chapter 5: Daily Life 1

Chapter 5: Shadow Self (Daily Life 1)

To say the atmosphere was heavy and bleak after what happened in that bunker was an understatement. After taking Shiro to the hospital and Haru staying to get his shoulder fixed, none of the students even spoke to one another, even with their new, naive tag-along Naoki chasing the heels of Kenji as he tried to figure out where he was trapped.

Night fell, and it was time for Naoki to pick his dorm room from one of the deceased students' dorms, with Kenji in tow. Naoki reached up to touch the door of Emi's room, but Kenji winced slightly, walking up and grabbing his wrist lightly. "You're probably gonna want a guy's dorm… I'm pretty sure there's no backup clothes for you so you're gonna want to raid a wardrobe you can wear."

"I'll get clothes for him once I figure out his size! He's kinda short, though." Monokuma announced behind both of their backs. Naoki shrieked, hopping into Kenji's arms and making him stumble forward.

"Not you again! Don't take me back! I don't wanna go back!" Naoki stammered out, gripping tightly on Kenji's shoulders.

"Can.. you let go of me, Naoki?" Kenji asked awkwardly.

"This isn't even a Despair thing, Naoki… I'm trying to bring you pants. That's about as far from despair as it gets." Monokuma grumbled. "You wanna go the rest of the school year without pants, Naoki? When we get to the next class trial, it'll make you look great."

"There won't be another class trial." Kenji said, glowering at Monokuma as he looked back at Naoki, who had glazed over eyes and still stuck in his arms. "Seriously, dude. Could you let go of me? You're heavy."

"Oh. OH!" Naoki said, realizing exactly what he was doing, letting go of Kenji and getting back onto his own feet. Kenji wringed his wrists to get rid of the soreness as Naoki spoke. "Y'know.. You never told me what happened to everyone else."

"It might be better if I told you in front of everyone else. I want you to believe me, so… I don't want to say a buncha stuff that sound like lies." Kenji said.

"I could help!" Monokuma chimed in.

"No!" Kenji shouted.

"Aww, man…" Monokuma said, sinking away.

"Anyway, let's get you a room." Kenji said, walking along the halls and going through rooms. Naoki eventually settled on Rio's room, opening the door and smiling at the sight of a real bed.

"Oh, man… I haven't had a real bed to sleep on for a year!" Naoki said excitedly, diving onto the bed and rolling around, wrapping himself in the cover. "Ahh, it's so nice!"

Kenji chuckled. "Glad you like it already. Nighttime is at 10, so it's a good idea to get in bed before then. Pool's off-limits at nighttime, kitchen too. Late night snacks have to come from a MonoMono Machine or a vending machine." Kenji said.

"Uhh… I haven't got any money." Naoki mentioned, as Kenji dipped out of the room and came back with Yukata's card carrying case in his hand.

"I kind of hate myself for using these but… It would be bad to let them go to waste." Kenji said, popping the latches open and making a small pile of Monocoins on the bed for Naoki to put on his person. "The machines use these stupid coins Monokuma gives us… Naoki, it's just an engraving of his face, it's not gonna hurt you." Kenji reassured Naoki, who was staring wide-eyed at the coins.

"He's cashing in his Monocoins in the bank! Oooh, Kenji, hit em with the briefcase!" Monokuma shouted, Kenji growling as he turned to the bear.

"OUT!" he yelled.

"God… you suck, Kenji." Monokuma said, kicking a Monocoin in frustration and marching back out of the room.

"Does he interrupt a lot?" Naoki asked, shaking.

"Mostly just me.. I kind of had it with his bullshit, though." Kenji said, snapping the card case shut. "Anyway, I'd better get to bed, I'll tell ya more about what's happened here in the morning. I… I kind of need time to clear my head. Today was.. The worst thing I've ever been though." he said, looking away from his new schoolmate as he tried to shake the feelings he felt.

"I feel like I missed a lot…" Naoki said.

"Oh, you did. Believe me, things… things have changed. Anyway, I'm gonna get to bed. Goodnight, Naoki." Kenji said, waving goodbye as he headed for his dorm. He slowly went to his room and closed the door behind him. Walking into the bathroom and looking at himself in the mirror.

Kenji grit his teeth, smashing his fist into the mirror as hard as he could, pulling it back and watching as the glass on the mirror fell to pieces in front of him. He leaned over the sink to grab onto it, but felt his weight give and collapsed onto his knees.

"God damn it! I don't get it, Yukata! Why!? Why!?" He screamed, curling into a ball on the bathroom floor and clutching his fingers into his hair. "How is killing yourself saving anyone… how is killing everyone else saving us!? We were supposed to get out together!" He screamed, to no one in particular. He felt a coldness wash over him as he felt his rage subside, standing back up and quietly turning on the sink to wash the glass from his hand.

There were splinters of glass, not deep cuts… so as long as he got the glass out, his hand would heal up pretty decently. He spent the rest of his night picking splinters out of his fingers as the next morning dawned.

 _Ding dong, bing bong_

"Good morning, students! We here at Enoshima University are happy to give a warm welcome to our newest enrolled student: The Ultimate Lucky Student, Naoki Tsukada! Let's all make him feel right at home here, folks! I got a little announcement coming up in the dining room. So make sure ya hit breakfast nice and early!" Monokuma announced, holding a stack of papers he was constantly adjusting. "Yes. I said breakfast! You guys get food now! Ain't it neat?"

Kenji bandaged his hand with some gauze he left in a medicine cabinet in his room, to make sure no one noticed his outburst, he tucked his injured hand into his pocket and got ready to go downstairs. He made his way to the dining hall, dragging his way there with what little energy he had.

"Woah… What happened to you?" Naoki asked from behind Kenji. Kenji turned to face him and just quietly sighed, rubbing his uninjured hand over an eye.

"I've been through a lot lately, man. Just… ignore it. I'll be fine, okay?" Kenji said, heading down the stairs. "We've gotta get breakfast…"

The two soon made it to the dining hall, where everyone was gathered around a buffet of different foods, loading their plates, MonoKatering rushing around with new dishes on carts. "Whoa, what's with all the food?!" Kenji exclaimed as they stepped in.

"Well, you did just starve yourselves for several days, I figured you guys could use a bit of food. Especially that skeleton that's following you around." Monokuma said, Naoki backing against the wall and hyperventilating at the sight of the black-and-white bear. "Oh, yeah. You need waffles bad, kid."

Kenji gave a reassuring pat on the shoulder. "Just ignore him. We've got a lot of catching up to do." he said, nudging Naoki toward the table where everyone sat.

"Hey, Kenji! Saved you a spot!" Haru said as Kiko tore through the breakfast sausages on his plate. Kenji smiled and walked over to Haru, taking a chair and sitting down. His smile slowly dropped as he saw Akira sitting across from him, her gaze never locked onto him a single time, mostly focusing on Yukiji, who was sitting beside her, and Setsuki, who was near the end of the table.

Shiro was out of the hospital, and seemed to have trouble keeping food on his fork as he used his left hand to eat, instead of the hand he lost fingers on. He seemed rather focused on this task. Airi sat next to Akira, across from Naoki, and was looking at him curiously from between bites. "So… is this everybody?" Naoki asked, nervous about the answer. The room went silent for a while, Monokuma popping back up.

"Yep! We're down to half! Well… 8.5 would be half, but I don't feel like sawing anyone in half yet. I'd need an Ultimate Magician for that." Monokuma said, getting no response. "Well, now that we're all seated it's time for my announcement! And that announcement is… the next motive for the Killing Game!"

"...Nothing!" Monokuma declared.

"I don't buy it. The last time you said there was nothing, you gave us Despair Disease." Kenji said.

"Hrm, that's true, but that was suspending the Killing Game. This is just leaving you to your own devices. You're all swimming in despair at this point! One of you ending up killing each other is a given at this point! And you're still not allowed to leave the school unless you kill someone and graduate. Be it months, or years! The only thing that matters is how bad ya want it!" Monokuma said.

"I bet your mom misses ya, Kenji! Ya ever wonder what happened to her?" he taunted, Kenji gritting his teeth. "And what about Shiro's baby sister? Do ya think she'll be happy when she graduates middle school and her precious big brother isn't there!?" This one got a look of shock and anger from Shiro. "And what about Yukiji? Oh yeah, he's an orphan. No one cares about orphans."

"Hey..." Yukiji said, affronted.

"Just think about those poor people out there, wanting to know their loved ones are alright. Though, you'll never be alright. The kids aren't alright! Kyaaahaha!" Monokuma cackled, disappearing from sight.

"I hate that damn bear…" Kenji muttered, turning back to the table. "Just ignore him. We need to get Naoki up to speed anyway."

"Right, the bear talked about a killing game?" Naoki asked.

"Yeah… We're trapped here. Monokuma said to escape we have to set up a murder that's good enough that we won't get caught. We've figured out 4 or 5 so far… But I'm getting tired of dealing with the intensity." Kenji explained, drinking from his glass of milk

"And if you succeed, everyone else here will be executed." Shiro added, trying to make the egg he was trying to sit on his fork stay on. "It's a big sacrifice… And it takes a very wrong kind of person to be okay with it." Shiro said.

"Shiro killed someone, but didn't get away with it." Kenji said, glaring at Shiro.

"Because of a loophole, I survived, but didn't graduate. If you're caught, Monokuma usually kills you." Shiro explained, not meeting Kenji's glare. Naoki's eyes widened as he tried to absorb all of this.

"Murder? Executed? W-wait… is everyone else not here dead?! Wakako? Miho..? Akami? Bam?" Naoki asked, getting solemn nods.

"That's why Rio's room was available… everyone was either a victim of a murder plot… or they were a killer. The Blackened is what they're called in the regulations." Kenji elaborated. "It started with Rio. Emi and I were trying to find the guy that locked all of us in here, controlling Monokuma. Emi accidentally dropped a box of wrenches on Rio's head." he said, head dropping.

"There's something I want to tell you about, Kenji. It involves Emi, but I'm not sure you'll believe what I'm going to say." Shiro said.

"Shut up, Kiruma. I'm talking." Kenji spat out.

"Whoa! That's harsh, Kenji! You guys read books together… What happened?" Naoki asked, concerned.

"I won't shut up. This is pertinent to how I think we should handle matters from now on." Shiro said firmly.

"And just what do you have to say!? You've dragged Emi's name through the mud enough alre-" Kenji started up, fists tightening.

"Emi didn't kill Rio!" Shiro yelled, cutting through Kenji's anger. Kenji's expression softening to confusion.

"W-wha…" Kenji said.

"Somebody else had tampered with Emi's contraption, taking out the bolts when Emi wasn't looking. When Rio went to the door. Emi simply supplied someone else the means to kill Rio, but she had nothing to do with his death beyond that!"

"And… someone chased Rio up the stairs. He would have never activated that trap unless that certain someone wearing a mask didn't chase him up the stairs with a knife." Shiro explained, everyone looking at him in stunned silence.

"Shiro… h-how did-? When did you…" Akira asked, voice shaking slightly as Shiro's words began to sink in.

"Then.. why was she executed?" Setsuki asked next.

"The Mastermind set her up to be executed. Kenji was right, the first trial was a trap." Shiro said.

"A trap? How was it a trap?" Yukiji asked.

"To get the ball rolling. The fact that there was a first murder pretty much means that Kenji's idea to stick together wasn't going to work, and we'd start to distrust each other. Monokuma was worried that no one would die... and he knew that the threat to kill all of us would ruin the point of the killing game, so he forced a murder and framed Emi with it in an attempt to sow the seed of distrust." Shiro said, crossing his arms in front of his chest.

"Kenji was right… Emi wasn't lying… we… we all voted for her… her execution..." Akira said, sinking into her seat with guilt.

"Execution…?" Naoki asked, questions mounting in his head with everything the students said.

"She was sawn in half, we were forced to watch." Airi mentioned, Naoki nearly gagging from hearing those words. "Imagine having to see it with your own eyes… I couldn't sleep at all that night, hearing the screaming ringing in my ears…" she said, shuddering slightly.

"Oh God, what is this place?" Naoki asked, grabbing at the ends of his hair. "Rio and Emi were so cool, why did they have to be the first to die?"

"Doesn't that void the first class trial?" Akira asked, a note of hope in her voice.

"We can't bring either of them back, and even if we proved it to Monokuma, what would we be able to do about it? He has all the cards, us proving he's a hypocrite does nothing for us." Shiro said. "It won't change anything to know this... everyone who died, they're gone and we can't take it back, no matter how much we want." He said, setting his fork back down on the table as he checked the bandages on his hand.

"Then what are we supposed to do?" Haru asked.

"Escape, simply put. We can't fight, so we'd have a better chance if we figured out an escape route." Shiro said.

"How do we do that?" Setsuki asked.

"I have a plan. I'm not going to share the details with any of you until I think I'm ready. We're all on camera, so the less Monokuma knows, the more likely this plan will succeed. Just… trust me for now. When I need you, I'll approach you and tell you what I want. That's all I need from every single one of you."

"You're not gonna tell us the plan? Doesn't that make you suspicious?" Kenji said, eyeing Shiro dubiously.

"The less we communicate, the less we'll blurt it out on camera. We have to be very specific with when, where, and how much information we share with each other. But I'll serve as the center of this plan. Otherwise, we need to just act like we're living out our daily lives, while I pull each one of you aside for the next part of the plan." Shiro explained, getting nods from the group in agreement.

"Why do I feel like I'm learning less about what happened?" Naoki asked.

"It's only been 3 weeks since the Killing Game started, but a lot happened. If you have any questions I'll try to answer them." Akira offered, as Naoki just sighed and shook his head from the confused feeling he had.

"Airi, you're the first part of the plan, and this will be the only time I'll tell other people what your next job is. Try and find areas without cameras, or areas where the closest camera is far away from your current position. Report what you find to me once you've finished scouting the school for these locations." Shiro said, Airi nodding and getting up.

"On it. You guys focus on filling Naoki in, maybe see if you can get an idea of what he knows about things before the Killing Game started. I don't have much use for that information, but you'll probably want to know more." she said before walking off with purpose in her steps.

"Right, so after... what happened to Emi, Monokuma told us that we had already been here for a year and gave us access to our research labs. We got some time to explore the labs before he gave us the next motive." Akira began.

"Oh yeah, the labs. I remember being in Kenji's shed a few times." Naoki said with a chuckle, Kenji giving him a playful punch to the shoulder.

"Shut up." he said, laughing briefly.

"But, what was this about a motive?" Naoki asked.

"Monokuma would give motives to convince us to murder each other. The first was a time limit before we all died and for the second, he planned to reveal all of our dark secrets." Kenji explained.

"Oh, how like you're afraid of cats? There was one time I brought in my cat Yuichi and you flipped a table to get away from him. " Naoki said, laughing as he remembered the sight of Kenji scrambling through the room, bug-eyed at the sight of a small, fuzzy kitten.

"Leave me alone! I got scratched when I was a kid and he gave me a fever! Cats are nasty little creatures!" Kenji shouted, Naoki holding his sides with laughter. "As soon as they get upset they turn into a ball of fluffy razors and cut the shit out of you!"

"Yuichi was so tiny, though! He'd barely be able to hurt Kiko!" Naoki countered.

"Anyway, some of us had some silly secrets, so we let them out in the open, but others kept theirs until the Monokuma Theater where he put them on display." Setsuki explained. "One of them was... " she said, looking over at Yukiji.

"Wakako…" he said, tears in the corner of his eyes. "She… she killed Bam and tried to set the Theater on fire… so she could escape with me." Yukiji said, voice cracking slightly.

"Wait, but I thought only the… Black?" Naoki asked, looking to make sure he was right.

"Blackened." Akira corrected.

"Yeah, the Blackened is the only one who graduates, right?" Naoki inquired.

"Well, yeah. But for the second murder, you were allowed to pick someone to escape with you. It was to make it so there'd be an accomplice."

"And Wakako picked Yukiji? That's…" Naoki said, trailing off to find the right word.

"Well, Wakako was not in the right frame of mind. Unlike the rest of us, who simply had their memories erased, Wakako had their mind altered. Monokuma used psychotropic drugs to pretty much make Wakako a timebomb of emotional issues, she broke down and that's why she killed Bam." Shiro explained, Yukiji sniffling and wiping his eyes with his sleeve. Akira put an arm around Yukiji's shoulder, pulling him in.

"Was there a murder Monokuma didn't tamper with?" Naoki asked.

"Well, one of the secrets Miho and Reiko shared caused the next murder. Miho's dad had ties to a mafia, who kneecapped Reiko's gang for being a threat to them. They already had problems with each other and there had been tension in the group as well, so I thought a Friendship Relay would help, especially after Monokuma said he suspended the Killing Game." Akira began.

"...Friendship Relay?" Naoki asked, scratching his head.

"It was an idea to get everyone to come together as friends, deal with the constant schisms growing and get everyone on the same page. It… happened." Akira said.

"And some of us decided to use it to fake being friends." Kenji said accusingly, glaring at Shiro, who sighed in response.

"The Killing Game would restart after the Friendship Relay and Monokuma's luau-"

"Wait, he had a luau?" Naoki asked, tilting his head.

"Yes. Like the Friendship Relay, it was a thing that happened. During the luau, Monokuma announced that he had spiked one of the punch bowls with a Despair Disease. This disease would affect the mind of those infected, twisting their personalities. Hana was cowardly, Yukata made constant lies, Akami was gullible and…" Shiro said, taking a deep breath. "I had lied about having the Disease, pretending to be meek."

"I used that time to murder Akami and frame Akira for it, which is partly why Kenji has been so angry with me. I did it because I was desperate and… didn't respect my fellow students. It was a mistake." Shiro admitted, looking away from the other students at the table. Naoki started to shuffle away from Shiro, wanting to get a good distance.

"I've come to accept that kind of behavior, especially with Kenji holding Akami's murder against me for so long…" Shiro said, looking away.

"But wait, if Shiro killed Akami, shouldn't he also be executed?" Naoki asked.

"As I said before, there was a loophole. The murder technically happened just after another murder, and we can only hold one class trial at a time, since it was technically in the investigation period, the second murder was thrown out. I won nothing, I didn't graduate, and I lost the respect of every person here as my reward." Shiro explained.

"So, who killed who? Who-" Naoki began.

"Reiko killed Miho. They had a fight in the pool, the floor was wet and Reiko slipped and dropped Miho on her head, breaking her neck and dropping her into the pool. She couldn't get Miho out because of Monokuma's rules against night-swimming, so Miho drowned…" Akira said, fists tightening.

"So the one who killed by accident got beaten by Monokumas and run over, but the asshole who planned a murder gets to live." Kenji said venomously.

"Don't start this shit again, Kenji. We've had enough problems talking about this to Naoki, we really don't need you making things worse. There isn't a motive for once… We need to settle things and actually work together." Akira pleaded. Kenji just scoffed and looked away from Akira. "Sorry, Naoki. Kenji's been like this since we were locked in the bunker…"

"That's where you guys found me, right?" Naoki asked, Akira nodding in response.

"Yeah. Monokuma locked us in there with no food to try and motivate us to kill Shiro. He didn't like that Shiro escaped execution and decided to make a special rule that if Shiro was killed there wouldn't be a class trial and no one would be executed. We tried to resist this plan, but Kenji and his friends started to argue for it." she explained.

"Because it was the right thing to do! If we had just killed Shiro, Yukata and Hana would still be here!" Kenji burst out.

"Everything Yukata did was his decision." Akira countered, turning back to the Ultimate Lucky Student. "After a debate that turned ugly, Yukata went into the No Mercy Room, a puzzle room that Monokuma used to help lead one of us to murder. But then he was taken to a room Monokuma set up and forced to watch the Despair Tape…"

"Despair Tape…?" Naoki said, voice tinged with fear as the words came out.

"A specially-made tape to mentally break down the person watching it. I struggled to get through one, but Yukata had to watch it four times. When he was released, he thought killing all of us out of spite instead of letting Monokuma enjoy it would be worth it. He poisoned himself and Hana to try and make a murder we couldn't solve… but I had solved it." Shiro elaborated, Kenji glowering as he looked away from the others. "Kenji, I know what I've done, but I'm trying to help. I want to make up for what I caused. We need to work together." he pleaded.

"Oh, sure. Now you want to work with us! Now you're on our side, huh? And we just gotta pretend like you didn't MURDER Akami?!" Kenji started, standing up from his seat..

"And yet I was the only one who tried to solve Yukata's murder. I lose my fingers and you still think I'm trying to deceive you!" Shiro shot back, standing up as well.

"If you hadn't been a selfish prick, Yukata wouldn't have died! Hana wouldn't have died! The only one who should've died in that bunker is you! And now you're asking me to trust you after you used me to plot a murder?! After you got my fucking friends killed?!" Kenji yelled, getting in Shiro's face.

"Yeah, like I would just go 'here, kill me!' just because you want justice? Does justice only count when it's you!? Kenji, I'm trying to save all of you to make up for my mistake. Maybe if I can save the rest of us, then maybe I can make up for what I did! Kenji, we're all afraid to die, you can't say you would put yourself in my situation and choose to die instead of help!" Shiro yelled back, meeting Kenji's glare.

"You're right, I wouldn't put myself in your situation! I wouldn't have killed anyone! I've been trying to help everyone since we got locked in this fucking school!" Kenji shouted.

"Saying you wouldn't have killed anyone is just wrong. None of us wanted to kill anyone, but we did anyway, because we felt like we had no other choice. Now I'm offering you a different choice, yet you reject it because I was the one who thought of it. What are you going to do, Kenji? Die here!? Do you want to pick between staying here for years, waiting until there are 3 people alive, or try to escape!?" Shiro plead, Naoki looking more and more uncomfortable as the argument escalated.

"Fuck you! I-"

"Does 'fuck you' help you leave this fucking school!? STOP BEING A FUCKING CHILD, KENJI! We're escaping, whether you fucking like it or not! PERIOD." Shiro shouted. Kenji snarling and reaching for anything he could grab onto. He jabbed a plastic fork at Shiro, which Shiro just swatted away.

"I was fucking talking! You and your goddamned 'I'm sorry, forgive me! I'm just trying to help now!' doesn't make up for fucking ANYTHING! Every time I tried to get us working together, you were there to fucking make things difficult! You hogged the Door Times Monopad, you hid your bullshit secret about how you can't fucking tie your shoes, you killed Akami and only lived on a goddamn technicality and you couldn't even FUCKING KILL YOURSELF RIGHT even if it meant we all could escape that bunker! You have done nothing to help us and now you want to try and sweep that under the rug? Fuck off!" Kenji shouted, rearing back his fist, only for Shiro to catch it.

"...You're lashing out because you feel like that's the only way you have control over your fucking life. And yet, no matter how much you assert yourself, and no matter how many times you hit Akira, or me, you will never change anything. It isn't because of who you are, and it isn't because you're dealing with me. It's because your friends are losing confidence in your abilities to control yourself. You don't understand the situation you're in…

You hope, and hope and hope that your friends will get on your side… but one of the people you held dear, the one you tried to convince thought that killing everyone would be better than continuing this Killing Game. They sense your desperation, your fear, and they think they have to choose something as extreme as the things you're saying, because you can't comprehend anything outside of good or bad." Shiro said, feeling Kenji's wrist shake with rage in his hand.

"I'm a terrible person, but Monokuma, or whoever is in control of Monokuma is leagues worse. I can admit I fucked up when I killed Akami… but whoever controlled Monokuma shot up the entire school without batting an eye. Kenji… Are you going to let your hatred of me mean you'll do everything Monokuma wants? You saw what happened… Akira turned on you, Airi turned on you, Yukata turned on you. Whatever you have planned isn't going to fucking work. If you even have a plan beyond just killing me right now, what are you supposed to do next? What benefit do you have of me dead, if it just loses your allies, and makes you find another scapegoat who's going to 'stop you' from saving everyone? Half of us are dead, Kenji. We have to try something else, just… listen to me, damn it!" Shiro begged.

"Let go of me…" Kenji said in a low growl, tears pouring from both his eyes as he locked eyes with Shiro in a passionate rage.

"It's not a bear, Kenji. It's someone in this school…Someone who has caused everything that's happened to us. He's controlling the stupid bear, Kenji! He's the real enemy… Stop trying to act like I'm the worst thing here!" Shiro said, trying to get through to him. "I failed, everything I tried, I failed because I thought I couldn't make a mistake. But I need all of you to help me with my plan, or we'll fail!"

"Kenji, this is getting us nowhere! Akami was my friend, but I'm willing to forgive Shiro! Why can't you?!" Akira asked, but Kenji just looked at her briefly before turning back to Shiro.

"Shiro's a murdering jerk, but... he's trying to help, Kenji… Monokuma's the worst." Yukiji plead with Kenji next, but got no response either. Kenji then chuckled bitterly.

"You say that it's someone in this school… right?" he asked.

"Yes! Somebody is controlling Monokuma! Using him as a proxy while he manipulates us to kill each other! Don't you remember that he said there wasn't going to be a fifth motive!? He thinks you're going to kill me, Kenji." Shiro said. "Prove him wrong! Spite him! I believe in you, Kenji…"

"But if there's someone controlling him, pulling the strings behind the shadows… that'd make that person like… like a mastermind, right?" Kenji said, laughing a bit more.

"Yes! That's right! The mastermind is the one behind this! They're the real enemy!" Shiro said, a smile forming as he seemed to finally be getting through the Ultimate Volunteer.

"Yeah… but that's not right. I mean, you guys said it, right?" Kenji said with a false smile, eyes shifting between Shiro and Akira. "There is no mastermind…" he said coldly, Shiro's smile dropping. Kenji's smile turned to a scowl as he faced Shiro again.

"Let go of me, Shiro…" he warned, Shiro releasing his hand. Kenji walked away from the table and out of the Dining Hall, rubbing his sore wrist. "I'm gonna be in my lab if anyone needs me… don't need me." he said, leaving through the Dining Hall door.

"I guess that's a no." Haru said, scratching the back of his head.

"Not if I have anything to say about it…" Naoki said, getting from his seat, and pulling his hoodie over his head, as he tried to focus on what was going to happen next.


	50. Chapter 5: Daily Life 2

Chapter 5: Shadow Self (Daily Life 2)

Kenji sat in a steel folding chair, hands clasped tightly together and shaking slightly. He was taking heavy breaths as he looked over the floor, which was covered in a sea of shattered glass. Kenji sighed, running his hands through his hair when he heard footsteps from the lab hall. He turned to see Naoki walk up to the door frame, coming to a sudden stop.

"Whoa, what have you been doing in here, Kenji? Dancing on glass?" Naoki asked as he carefully swept glass aside with his sneaker-clad foot.

"Oh, hey Naoki. Sorry about the mess…" Kenji said. "I was still a little hot."

"...A little?" Naoki asked, looking at all the smashed glassware littering the floor as he continued to push it aside with each step he took into the lab.

"Shut up." Kenji said with a weak chuckle. "So, what are you doing here?" he asked.

"Well, I wanted to talk to you. See if you're okay after all that…" Naoki said, finally clearing a path to Kenji. "You gotta another chair nearby?" he asked, Kenji pointing to a nearby bench where another steel chair sat, covered in dents and scratches.

"I used that one to help with smashing. I had a wooden chair, but I can't find it." Kenji said, Naoki grabbing the dented chair as he looked around the room. If Naoki had to guess, the wooden chair had probably been thrown against a wall at some point and was now in pieces somewhere in the lab.

Naoki unfolded the chair and sat down, trying to find a comfortable groove among the dents. "If ya keep breaking stuff, you'll run out of stuff to break. Then what? Break someone else's stuff?" Naoki asked, Kenji sighing as he heard the patter of tiny paws on the lab floor, turning to see Kiko walking on the clean parts of the floor.

"Holy shit, what happened in here?" Haru asked through the door frame.

"Hey, Haru. I… had to vent. Hitting people seems to get me in deeper shit, so I guess this had to do." Kenji said with a shrug. Haru walked into the room, standing behind Naoki.

"I think he's outta chairs, Haru." Naoki said sheepishly.

"I'm cool to stand." Haru said, waving it off. "Kenji, you feelin' better?"

"Yeah… I'm probably gonna need to go to the MonoMono Machine to replace all my stuff…" Kenji said, looking over the glass on the floor. Naoki and Haru looked at each other for a bit in silence, Naoki finally speaking up.

"Dude. I've only been here one night and I have to say… we need to stop fighting with Shiro. If he's come up with a plan, it's better than being trapped here the rest of our lives. I don't know what you went through with him but… I get it. He pissed you off, but… Is any plan better than no plan?" Naoki asked.

"Well… yeah, but if it's a Shiro plan, then it can't be what he says it is." Kenji said, knuckles whitening as his hands tightened. "Look. He tricked me, okay? He got me to trust him, and then he tried to kill everyone here. I can't just… ignore that. You know?" Kenji said, folding his arms.

"He wanted to kill me, or get me framed for killing Akami. But… Do you think seven of us could keep him in check? We're wiser now, I think we can see if Shiro's up to any fuckery." Haru said.

"Yeah, and we can have him put away if he tries any funny business. Akira's a cop and this Airi girl seems like she doesn't take any shit." Naoki added. "Like she'll karate flip me out the window like one of those Hong Kong cop movies."

Kenji shook his head. "Problem is, they trust Shiro. They think he's someone who should be trusted, but… I just can't. He lied to me, acted like he was my friend, played like he was sick when he was really just planning a murder. Then he manipulated me into thinking my friends did it. Threw Yukata, Haru under the bus… hell, he even tried to frame Akira for her own friend's murder. He didn't fuck with just me, he fucked with everybody." Kenji said. "And I'm worried that Akira's falling into the same trap I did in trusting him and she's being stubborn about how I need to trust him. How he's 'changed' and is helping us now…"

"But what if he's better than before? Didn't Akira say something about looking after him in the bunker?" Naoki asked.

"So that makes everything he did okay? That just means Akami's murder never happened? I can't just forgive that stuff just because he says he wants to help us now…" Kenji said.

"But what about his missing fingers? Didn't he cut those off to help you solve the case?" Naoki inquired, Kenji shaking his head.

"He probably did that because he wanted to make sure he could live." he answered, Haru bending down to meet eye-to-eye with Kenji, putting a hand on his shoulder.

"Kenji, I don't like Shiro any more than you do, but there aren't a lot of options left. I'm not saying we trust him, but just listen to him for a bit and see if he's got a plan that can get us out of here. If he tries any funny business, we'll put a stop to him and if we do get out of this school, we'll walk away and never see him again. Shiro tried to pin stuff on you, he tried to pin stuff on me. We can tell when he's doing bullshit." Haru offered.

"Yeah but.. His plan is to be as vague as possible. How am I supposed to not suspect him?" Kenji asked.

"Maybe he thinks whoever was in the video might be able to listen to u-" Haru offered, Kenji shooting up from his seat.

"Bullshit, Shiro made that up!" Kenji shouted.

"On the contrary!" Monokuma said, popping up with shards of glass atop his head, brushing them off. "Yeah, yeah, I know I said Emi killed Rio. But there was someone in a mask who chased him up the stairs! Stupid Shiro, bringing up stuff he sees instead of being vague about it. You're supposed to go mad from the revelation and get super murderpowers, not just explain what happened to everyone! How else are creepypastas supposed to work!?" Monokuma cried out, everyone just looking lost from his complaining

"Creepywha-?" Kenji asked, scratching his head.

"Uhh.. I think it's those dumb stories you read on the internet. I guess Monokuma likes those." Naoki explained.

"I am well versed in the lore of the thin guy! That one dog who is happy! Jeff!" Monokuma shouted.

"...Jeff? Just Jeff?" Haru asked.

"Yes. Jeff!" Monokuma exclaimed. "Jeff! The worst of them all! I wanted Shiro or Yukata be Jeff from their insanity! But now Yukata's dead and Shiro's just.. I dunno.. Slightly less of a jackass? Go figure." Monokuma muttered.

"Okay, now you're just spouting nonsense." Kenji said.

"Jeff can fuck off." Naoki added, adjusting his baseball cap. "What does any of this have to do with what Shiro saw?

"I was going to spout off the whole 'there's an extra student you don't know about!' twist… But that was just Naoki. And then I was going to go with the 'one of the students ISN'T A STUDENT!' twist but you know that's just Airi. So I came to explain a different thing." Monokuma began. "Every single student you've met, are the only living people in this building. I'm indeed a machine, and ONE of the students is piloting it! Shiro caught wind of this little theory, so watch out who you talk to, boys n girls!"

"What…?" Kenji asked.

"Just letting you know there's not some 30 year old web developer wanting to play God by hosting a killing game, or some kind of serial killer with little to no backstory, like Jeff." Monokuma said.

"I thought you liked Jeff?" Naoki asked.

"You talked me into hating Jeff, Naoki! Go you! You ruin everything with your stupid... Birdy baseball cap!" Monokuma complained.

"How did you become more annoying? Did I miss some kind of annoying firmware update that made you more annoying?" Kenji asked. "Can you get to the friggin' point?"

"It's the Chiba Marines… You jerk. I love that team." Naoki said under his breath.

"Not the time, Naoki! This isn't baseball!" Kenji snapped. "Sorry. Still kinda heated."

"I'm being controlled by one of the students in the school! There may be no motive, but watch your back, Kenji. Ya never know who's gonna hear it!" Monokuma warned.

"Could be Setsuki, could be Yukij-eh couldn't be Yukiji, he's too sleepy to run a bear 24/7. And ya still don't know who Airi works for!" he said. "Oooh~ Maybe it's Akira~ You ever think of that? Isn't she the center of most class trials? Maybe she's using this whole thing to stroke her ego and make herself feel special~?" Monokuma taunted.

"Get out." Kenji said. Monokuma cackling at him.

"Haaaah? What's with you, Kenji? I thought you'd be thinking that too. Akira's the one who got your friends killed, right? She probably set up your girlfriend to die, right? And she probably kept you far from Shiro long enough for one of your friends to snap and try killing everyone. Maybe she's been planning this while trying to play good cop, but she was really bad cop! Puhuhuhu~" Monokuma said, Kenji reaching for the nearest thing to throw at the bear.

"I said get out!" Kenji shouted, grabbing a crowbar and chucking it, Monokuma doing another style dodge to avoid the crowbar.

"Sashay! Style Dodge! Ha ha! Now that's the Kenji I like! Got a fire in your belly!" Monokuma said enthusiastically. "Now take that fire and do somethin' with it!" Monokuma said, dipping out of the room. 

"Fuck it, I've had it with the slapstick. I'm ignoring him." Haru said, clenching his fist as he reached down to pop his dog onto his shoulder. "Kenji, I might not be a smart dude, but I have your back if Shiro turns sour on us! I'm pretty damn sure Naoki has our back too, since he seems like a pretty cool guy, and we've been friends before when we had our memories!" Haru said, looking to Naoki.

"Yeah… If Shiro's idea gets us out of here, cool I guess. But if he's going to be a dick, I think the three of us can stop him from killing anyone." Naoki said in agreement. "We gotta play with our cards to our chest. Stay neutral to Shiro and just watch him to see if we can figure out what his plan is before he completes it. If his plan is to help us, then we'll help too." Naoki offered, taking off his hat and trying to fix his hair.

"And if he tries to pull a fast one, we chain him to a support beam and leave him in the school!" Haru added.

"...Thanks guys. I guess I've just been.. Too pissed off to think things over. It might be better to just wait and treat things like normal for now. At least as normal as having Monokuma badgering me can be." Kenji said.

"Even if he said one student might be Monokuma?" Naoki asked.

"We'll deal with that when we have a better idea of who that could be. If we go around accusing people I'll just sound like an asshole again." Kenji said, looking for a broom. "I'd better clean up all this glass…"

Kenji soon found brooms, handing some to Haru and Naoki while Kiko carried the dustpan. The three soon got the floor sweeped up, leaving Kenji's lab and walking around the halls. "So, Naoki, anywhere you wanna go? Probably a lot's changed when you got locked up in there, right?" Kenji asked, Naoki grabbing the the brim of his hat as he thought.

"Well, it'd be nice to see the labs again. Most of them have stuff to do in them, anyway." Naoki said. Kenji nodded and thought about which lab to take him to.

"Hrm… how about Setsuki's?" Kenji offered, Naoki smiling and giving a thumbs up.

"I'd join, but Kiko looks like she's needing a nap." Haru said Kiko letting out a prolonged yawn. "I'll see you guys in a bit."

"Seeya, Haru." Kenji said as he and Naoki headed for the second floor. They made it to Setsuki's lab, Kenji knocking on the door. "Hey, Setsuki! You in?" he asked, hearing the sound of wheels rolling against the floor. Within seconds, Setsuki opened the door.

"Keeeeennnn!" she exclaimed. "You… you're not still angry, are ya?" Setsuki asked, a hint of worry in her voice.

"Nah, I've cooled down. Naoki wanted to check out the labs and I thought it'd be fun to hang and do a bit of skating." Kenji said, Setsuki cheering pumping her fist in the air.

"Aww, yeah! Come on in, grab a helmet!" Setsuki said, rolling off on a pair of lime green rollerskates with bright purple lights glowing underneath. The boys each grabbed helmets as Setsuki lead them toward the boards.

Suddenly, Akira slid in front of the two of them, face first on the ground, despite having a helmet. Coming down crashing after her was a skateboard she was riding as she crashed off a halfpipe. Naoki and Kenji took a step back, startled by the sudden crashing.

"Setsuki… Why does this have to be so damn hard?" Akira whined, checking her elbows to see if she skinned them.

"Akira… You're… skateboarding?" Kenji asked, Setsuki leaning down to grab Akira and haul her back onto her feet.

"Trying to skateboard." Setsuki quipped, Akira puffing her cheeks in frustration. "Jury's out on if she's successful yet." she said with a little giggle. Akira dusted herself off, before adjusting her tie.

"You all keep saying I need a hobby, so I took up Setsuki's. I haven't landed a single trick yet." Akira complained, pouting childishly as Setsuki smiled, bumping her side with her elbow.

"You act like you can nail hardflips n' feeble grinds as fast as you can drink coffee. Gurl, I've been doing this shit for years and I still crash about 50% of the time." Setsuki continued to tease.

"Hard flip?" Naoki asked, as Setsuki ran over, grabbing the board Akira fell on and spinning it in her hand to reveal the 'Dog Police' deck she had on the underside.

"Wanna see one, Naoki? I'll totally do one for ya!" Setsuki announced, slinging the board over the back of her head as she started to scan around the room.

"Cool, I guess. I'll watch. Is a hardflip… hard?" Naoki asked, scratching the back of his head. Setsuki chuckled again, Kenji starting to smile from seeing her being positive again.

"It's more... Medium difficulty. But I'll make it a 'hard' one!" Setsuki said, running over to a nearby wall, and grabbing four folding chairs and tucking them underneath both of her arms. "Alright, Kenji, Naoki, set up these chairs like.. Four in a row. And I'll hardflip over them, okay?" Setsuki requested, the two boys grabbing the folding chairs as they began to set them up. Setsuki kicked off her roller skates, switching back to her boots as the boys unfolded the chairs.

Setting them in the center of the room, pushing a couple of the mini ramps and rails out of the flat part of the room to give her a clearing, the four chairs were sit beside each other as Setsuki ran up to the top of a quarterpipe and sitting on top of it.

"I wish we had a camera, or something. I would love to send in some videos to a few more sponsors." Setsuki said, setting the board on the lip of the ramp, standing up and pressing a sneaker against it to get ready for a drop in.

"You ready, Setsuki!?" Akira asked, walking over to sit on one of the boxes Kenji and Naoki pushed to the back wall of the lab.

"I'm always ready." Setsuki said, leaning on the edge of the ramp as the acrylic wheels began to loudly roll against the wood of the ramp. Her movements were lived in, and natural like she's done this hundreds of times, bending her knees to absorb the shock of rolling down the ramp, and getting ready to leap.

She leapt into the air with a clack of her board hitting the smooth concrete, kicking her board and making it do a flip as she flew over all four chairs. She kicked her feet against the board again right before she landed, hitting the ground with an echoing thud as she nailed the trick on the first try.

"See?! Hardflip nailed!" She said, sliding to a stop and kicking the board back into her arm so she could hold it.

"I guess that was kind of hard." Akira said, scratching the back of her head, when suddenly the door opened to reveal Shiro, his injured hand in his pocket as he looked over at Akira and Setsuki.

"Oh, does Shiro want to skate?" Setsuki asked, Shiro just sighing as he walked up to the group. Kenji clenched his fist, Naoki tucked his hat down over his eyes, Akira just calmly removed her helmet, and Setsuki looked nervous.

"No, I just needed Akira. And… Actually, I could use you too, Setsuki. I want to talk to you about something." Shiro mentioned, his tone was still... fairly stern, but trying to sound friendlier to the group.

"...Why?" Kenji asked, brows furrowed, Shiro glanced at him for a second, before turning back to the person he's had more success with, Akira.

"I need to talk to her about the plan, but we have to use one of the places Airi's scouted to have little or no cameras on us. If you two want to skate here, I'm pretty sure Setsuki would be fine with it." Shiro explained, Setsuki tucking her hands behind her back and looking away.

"Do you want me to come with you, Setsuki?" Kenji asked, concerned at how nervous his friend was. Shiro softly moved a hand between them as he spoke.

"Sorry, Kenji. I need as few people as possible to know parts of this plan. I'm trusting on all of you to do your parts when they come up, and not worry about the parts I need Akira, or Setsuki to do." Shrio explained.

"A-are you sure you really need me f-f-for this? I mean, Akira's p-pretty smart and all and I was getting into m-m-my hype…" Setsuki said, looking away from Shiro.

"Setsuki, you don't have to go with him if you don't want to." Kenji said reassuringly.

"I need Setsuki for this. Each of you have your own individual talents, and I need Setsuki, and possibly even Haru for this." Shiro elaborated.

"Why not Haru, then?" Kenji asked, giving a scrutinizing look to Shiro.

"Haru's agreed to help me already, He was walking Kiko back to his dorm. I need Setsuki, or Monokuma won't be where I need him to be." he said. Setsuki shaking her head.

"L-look, I'm s-sure this is important, b-b-but…" she stammered out, Akira sighing and taking her hand.

"I'll talk to Setsuki. C'mon, we're gonna have a chat in my lab." Akira said, dragging Setsuki off along the hall to the left hall. It was a straight walk to Akira's lab as she brought Setsuki in.

"You're n-not gonna, like, put me in j-jail until I agree to Shiro's p-plan, are ya?" Setsuki asked, shaking slightly. Akira shook her head, looking around her shelves.

"No, I'm going to get you something to help you calm down. Let you figure out your feelings, then we'll go talk to Shiro." Akira explained, finally grabbing a mug. She took a nearby pitcher and poured water into the mug. She went to hand it to Setsuki. "Here, have a drink-" she said, Setsuki letting out a scream and slapping the mug right out of Akira's hand.

"Wh-what did you put in th-that mug?!" Setsuki sputtered out, looking at the broken glass on the ground in a puddle of water.

"What?! I didn't put anything in that! It's just water!" Akira said as Setsuki backed away, heading for the door. Akira tried to stop her.

"Y-you said you were g-gonna give me something! You were trying to p-p-poison me!" Setsuki shouted, shoving Akira back and sending her falling to the ground.

"Y-you're gonna betray me! I knew it! I'm next! Hana was first and I'm next!" Setsuki said with an accusing finger.

"S-Setsuki!? What's wrong!? I'm not doing anything… Why did you shove me?" Akira asked, confused.

"Don't lie to me! DON'T LIE TO ME!" Setsuki screamed out as she started to hyperventilate uncontrollably. "I DON'T WANT TO DIE! You can't poison me! I WON'T ALLOW IT!"

"Setsuki, please…" Akira said, getting back onto her feet as Setsuki threw another glass her way, crashing it against the back wall.

"NO!" Setsuki shouted, cutting her off. "I-I can't open doors! I can't trust my friends, I can't DRINK WATER! Monokuma's in everything! Everything is his plan! Everything's out to kill me, Akira. I don't want you here! Leave! Just LEAVE! Fuck your water!"

"SETSUKI! STOP!" Akira shouted, shoving her against a wall, causing Setsuki to freeze like a startled deer. Akira locked eyes with her as she felt tears stinging her eyes.

"I… I can't do anything, Akira. All I'm good for in this is dying… I'm a statistic. Someone's going to kill me, no matter how hard I try. I'm not… I'm n-not good enough for this, Akira. A-all I do is see everyone die… How the fuck did I make it through f-four class trials when I don't do anything? I just.. I just thought of s-stupid shit, because I thought it was still a game. But… Hana's dead, dude… All the people I thought were too kind to die and fucking Hana died. And I was u-useless. Again." Setsuki said, wiping her tears on her sleeve. "I'm stupid enough to die drinking a glass of water… Hana didn't deserve that. No one else deserved that but me, the fuckin' idiot of the g-group." Setsuki said, clenching her teeth and gripping the side of her own head.

"Setsuki…" Akira said, taken aback briefly. "You really think that…?"

"I'm so useless, Akira… I'm sorry I lived instead of someone fuckin' useful, like Emi, or M-Miho… I just make everything harder for you guys. But… I don't want to die, I d-don't know what I'm supposed to do besides die! I can't kill anyone, and I'm not smart enough for a plan, so all I can do is d-die, and when that happens, I'll have no control over it."

"Then why are you against Shiro's plan?" Akira asked.

"Because I'll fuck it up, and Sh-Shiro will kill me for it. Or Monokuma will kill me for it. Or Shiro will k-kill someone else. Or K-Kenji will kill Shiro if he thinks this plan will go sour. Anything involving me will turn to crap. I-I can't do this, Akira…" Setsuki said, head dropping.

"Setsuki… You don't have to be good at everything to justify existing… We all have things we're supposed to be good with… and things we fail with. I'm not telling you to not use your head and think your hardest… but.. Just being here, you support us in your own way?"

"What, getting things wrong so someone can correct me?"

"No, you… you make us happy. You're usually really chill, or have a good joke, or come up with something fun, or silly to do. It's not good in an investigation, but… It keeps us from being constantly in this mire of sadness all the time. It's kept us alive for longer, despite the tragedies we've been going through. Even Kenji is coming back around. And who did he come to?" Akira asked.

"...M-me?" Setsuki asked.

"Damn straight! You broke through Kenji's wall of 'fuck Shiro' and actually got him to do something again. Even if it is something stupid and dangerous like trying to skate. It's something that gave him hope. And who else here is equipped to do that? Haru broke down during the last trial, and I was occupied with Shiro."

"Uhm…" Setsuki said, slowly lifting her head.

"Is Airi funny? I like her, but I don't think she's funny at all." Akira continued. "I think the day she cracks me up, the moon will crash into the earth. And Shiro's been a lot better than before, but he's as funny as burnt toast. You helped Yukiji when he was in despair of Wakako's death."

"I still don't think I'm helping you guys…" Setsuki said, doubt in her voice.

"Did you notice that Kenji only got antagonistic of Shiro the moment he felt concern from you? His biggest strength, and maybe his biggest weakness is him being protective of others. You're our ballast, the moment he felt you starting to waver, he flew in to protect you. That's because your mood sets the mood for the rest of us, so your kindness, and your levity are constantly helping us get over all this grief we're feeling." Akira said, putting her hands on Setsuki's shoulders and pulling her in for a hug.

"You're fine, Setsuki. There's a reason everyone's your friend. And right now we need you more than ever..." Akira said, Setsuki wrapping her arms around the Ultimate Police Cadet. 

"Th-thank you, Akira…" Setsuki said, voice cracking slightly.

"Just… Let yourself breathe, Setsuki. You're winding yourself thin with fear. Just.. trust in me, and I'll trust in you." Akira said, letting Setsuki hold onto her for a bit longer. "And drink some water, dammit. You'll get sick if you don't."

"O-okay…" Setsuki said, holding on for what felt like ten minutes before finally letting go. "So, guess we gotta go meet up with Shiro."

"I won't let him do anything. If my trust in him fails, I want it to be my fault. Not Kenji's, not yours… This will be my responsibility. As a cop, as a student, and as your friend." Akira said, Setsuki smiling. "Now, let's get going. We kind of left Kenji and Shiro in the same room together."

"Lead the way, KiKi." Setsuki said, Akira smiling back and heading out of the lab.


	51. Chapter 5: Daily Life 3

Chapter 5: Shadow Self (Daily Life 3)

Akira and Setsuki made their way back to Setsuki's lab. Setsuki wasn't in a cheery mood, but she at least calmed down enough to go back to typical Setsuki. As soon as they opened the door, Kenji rushed right up to the doorframe. "Setsuki! Are you alright?!" Kenji asked.

"Yeah, man. Sorry about that, just needed a bit of air. Akira knows how to help me through stuff." Setsuki said, Kenji still shaking slightly before taking a relieved sigh.

"G-good. Anyway, you wanna keep shredding?" Kenji asked, smiling.

"Actually, I picked to meet with Shiro at the theater. He already go?" Setsuki asked, Kenji's smile wavering slightly but still holding firm.

"Uh… yeah, you sure you wanna go, though? You seemed a bit stressed about the idea." Kenji said, scratching the back of his neck.

"It's fine, Kenji. Akira and I talked, and I think I can handle it, especially if she's around to keep an eye on him." Setsuki said confidently

"...Are you sure she can?" Kenji asked.

"Uhm… I don't know. She did an alright job so far, right? He didn't do anything crazy.. Well besides chopping his fingers off. But.. Y'know what I mean." Setsuki said awkwardly. Kenji nodded, shrugging.

"Well, guess if you're fine with it… just make sure to run if he starts acting funny, alright?" he asked, Setsuki giving up thumbs.

"You got it, Kenji! So, did Shiro tell you guys anything?" she asked.

"He's told me absolutely nothing. I kind of hate it. What kind of plan involves not talking to anybody about your plan?" Kenji asked.

"Well, he did mention that he wanted Setsuki to bring a skateboard, but otherwise he was pretty hush-hush about it. He said he wanted to go to the theater… Why?" Naoki asked.

"I think it's related to Airi's scouted areas. Areas without cameras." Akira pointed out.

"That sorta of screams 'Come Murder Me' to me." Kenji rebutted.

"That's probably why he wants groups of three. So no one can attack the other without someone there to stop it." Akira argued. "And I've got handcuffs on me in case one of them goes on the attack." she said as Setsuki grabbed one of her skateboards.

"Alright, let's get rollin'" Setsuki said, carrying the board under her arm. Akira nodded as the two left Setsuki's lab, making their way to the theater with Setsuki skating the path to get there faster. Shiro was standing at the front doors. Approaching the building made Setsuki uncomfortable from what happened there just a few weeks ago.

"Ah, perfect. Come with me." Shiro said as Akira caught up with them, walking around the theater.

"Uhh.. Shiro dude. The door was back there. Where are we going?" Setsuki asked, stumbling over a patch of tall grass as Shiro pressed his side to the corner of the building, peeking around to see if anyone spotted them.

"Like most theaters, this building had a fire exit. The main reason Wakako wasn't able to use it to hide her nail bat was because Monokuma locked it so no one could try and sneak out of the building during the second motive. Now that that's over… this should open like Airi told me." Shiro explained.

"But why lock it if people wouldn't think to use it unless there was a fire?" Akira asked.

"Airi thinks that Monokuma either wasn't able to program a detonation sequence for the Monopads for if we walked through the fire exit… or there wasn't a detonation sequence and he simply wanted to intimidate us into not walking out of the theater and only set a warning for if we went through the front door…" Shiro said as he opened the fire exit door.

The three went into the theater, Shiro leading the way to the stage. The stage was now clean, with Bam's body discarded and the burnt curtains replaced with new ones. He stopped at the floor panel, turning to Setsuki. "So… wh-what are we doing in h-here?" Setsuki asked.

"Airi has about 12 different locations off camera on the site. And this is one of them. Every time we use one, Monokuma will know about it, so we can't use it again." Shiro explained.

"Couldn't he just follow us to the location on the cameras?" Akira asked.

"He's not in the circumstance to be able to do that. Which is why I want to keep these locations between me and Airi. The mastermind is probably reeling over the fact they can't keep their eye on us at all times. But, being in front of a Monokuma probably signals which students are there. As long as a Monokuma doesn't see us, he won't be able to track our current location." Shiro continued.

"What do you mean?" Setsuki asked, lifting her beanie and scratching the side of her head.

"Do you see this map on the Monopad? Do you remember how he said it worked?" Shiro replied.

"Uhm…" Setsuki said, trying to draw back her mind.

"It said that the map shows the location of the room that student was seen in last. Why?" Akira said, scratching her head as Shiro pulled out his Monopad, hitting a few buttons on his map.

"How do you think it's able to detect the room we were last in, but not the room we may have gone to?" Shiro asked as a follow-up.

"The cameras?" Setsuki guessed.

"If it were the cameras, it would show the room we were currently in, not the room we were in last." Shiro said, walking onto backstage and looking up at the rafters for anyone watching them. "The real way he does it has to be when Monokuma had last detected us on its optic sensors. So using that logic… Monokuma would either think we're in the courtyard, or the front entrance of the theater." Shiro said, there were three exclamations near the front of the theater, near the courtyard. Two were in Setsuki's lab, one was in the library. One was in Yukiji's room, and the last was at the swimming pool.

"How do you know that he knows that?" Akira asked, folding her arms as the three of them waited on the stage, Shiro intentionally hiding behind the curtain as he looked for something on the floorboards.

"I made us intentionally meet at the front, where a Monokuma is sitting in the ticket booth, before going somewhere off camera. It would trigger that we were at the entrance of the theater, but as long as we stay out of a Monokuma's detection, our room indicators won't update. The mastermind hasn't been flagged that we're in the back of the theater, so if he tried to find us, he would check the front first."

"Whoa… Did you think of all of that yourself?"

"I had Airi do a few tests by going between rooms with Monokumas in them, both looking at her, and not looking at her, along with rooms without Monokuma's in them like the shower room. That's what she told me." Shiro explained.

"I admit… I only see some Monokumas sometimes. Are they really that hard to avoid?" Akira asked.

"He's left hidden Monokumas everywhere, he said if I found them all I'd get Monocoins, but I also assume he's using them as room sensors to keep track of us without using the camera array he has." Shiro continued, sifting the floor with his fingers.

"Is that why I found a Monokuma in a sombrero? I told Haru about it but he didn't believe me. He said I was 'goin' bonkers.' and that I should get more sleep." Setsuki mentioned with an awkward laugh.

"I found one in a swimsuit. I didn't really need to see him in a sling bikini, but I did." Akira mentioned as she watched Shiro on the floor. "Did you find anything, Shiro?" 

"Yes. In fact, this is why I brought us here." Shiro said, getting on his hands and knees and pulling the hook latch open, revealing a trap door that lead to the underside of the stage.

"What's this?" Setsuki asked, getting on her hands and knees. The hole looked pitch black from her eyes not adjusting to the light.

"Wakako tripped the breakers on her bat trap down here. It's also a place without a camera so I can discuss our plan." Shiro said, sliding down the hole like Kenji had done before, joined by Akira and Setsuki. Shiro turned on his Monopad, dialing up the brightness on the screen until his face was illuminated by the blue screen. "You might want to have your Monopad on down here." he said as Setsuki landed next to Akira.

"Is your hand okay?" Akira asked, since he sliced his fingers off just a day or two before.

"It hurts a lot, I'm taking a lot of pain medication from the nurse's office to cope. But I'll survive, I guess."

"So, what's the plan?" Akira asked, lighting up her Monopad.

"The first thing I need to talk about is why I'm doing this." Shiro began. "You remember what I said during lunch earlier, correct?" he asked.

"Uhm.. That someone chased Rio up the stairs?" Setsuki asked.

"Exactly. Though, that wasn't the thing that bothered me. The thing that bothered me was… Who was wearing the mask. I didn't see who was wearing it, so I wasn't sure about the identity of the masked individual. But… what Monokuma told me earlier, he told me he also told Kenji." Shiro said. "There isn't anyone else in the school except for us. Airi snuck into the school at some point, but there are no more hidden students, no more teachers, or living individuals we're not aware of. This can mean only one thing."

"The mastermind of this whole killing game… And the one who chased Rio into Emi's snare trap is one of us. I suspect someone thin, smaller than Rio, actually, but their mask had a vocal filter on it, so the gender is unknown." Shiro continued.

"Wait, how tall was Rio again?" Akira asked.

"About 5'11. Out of the ones who are still alive, that rules out Haru. It doesn't sound like much, but it reduces our likely suspects." Shiro answered, putting his eyes to his Monopad to see each student's profiles to check their height, his glasses reflecting his screen to Akira and Setsuki.

"So you're sure it isn't Haru." Setsuki said.

"Yes. He or she was a few inches shorter than Rio. I'd say between 5'2 and 5'9. The only problem is that counts most of us." Shiro replied. "Airi is about 5'10, so strangely, we can discount her too, since they would be of similar height, and not visibly shorter than Rio."

"So… All of us, barring Haru n' Airi are suspects for being the mastermind." Setsuki said.

"I'm pretty certain it's not Kenji either, when Kenji was supposedly proven wrong about there being a mastermind, Monokuma went with the verdict that Emi killed Rio anyway." Shiro said, eliminating a suspect.

"Wait… Does that mean I'm suspicious? I… I said there wasn't a Mastermind, and Monokuma agreed with me. And I'm 5'7." Akira asked, sounding slightly scared at the possibility of being suspected.

"You stopped everyone from killing me, so I owe you for that. I would like to trust you that your intentions are true." Shiro said reassuringly, hoping that would put Akira at ease.

"...But didn't Akira lock you away from everyone until Yukata could set up his murder? Maybe she meant to do that." Setsuki argued, Akira stroking her chin in thought.

"True, but… I didn't expect Yukata to do that. Honestly, I was waiting until we either found an exit, or Monokuma got bored and let us out." Akira said, a tone of disgust in her voice. Disgust at herself for her own inaction costing two more people their lives.

"It's unfortunate to say, but Akira is in a lot of circumstances that the mastermind would find beneficial. But, this plan can elude even someone I'm talking to plotting against me." Shiro said.

"How so?" Setsuki asked.

"As soon as this location is used, it's discarded. If someone I'm speaking to is Monokuma, they'll only know the location of one of these planned hideouts, he won't know every single one I'm at, and he won't know every part of the plan I'm doing because I intend to rotate the two people I bring with me. And we won't return to this location again, so him knowing where it is useless " Shiro elaborated.

"That's… actually kind of clever." Setsuki said, impressed.

"My mind is my weapon, it makes up for any of the shortcomings I have, and I need to use everything I can think of to make sure this thing works smoothly." Shiro replied.

"If you have to rotate who you're talking to, who was with Haru?" Akira wondered.

"Yukiji. He was playing with Haru's dog when we discussed the plan." Shiro said. "But here's the rub. Haru's a pass on if he's the mastermind or not. But Yukiji isn't. And for Haru's part of a plan… If Yukiji sabotages Haru, I need Setsuki as my insurance, someone who can do his part if he can't."

"So… Do you have a plan for me?" Akira asked.

"No, Akira. You're still suspicious. Sorry, but I need 100% confidence in you before I ask you to be an integral part of this. But Setsuki is perfect for the job I have in mind." Shiro said, turning to Setsuki.

"Uhm.. So what's the plan?" Setsuki asked.

"Tomorrow night, I will need to go with Airi somewhere that Monokuma must not follow, and the best way to do that, is distract him so much that he can't keep track of everyone at once. We need someone to start a scene." Shiro explained.

"Oh! Start a scene? Like what?" Setsuki asked, nodding a bit.

"Vandalism is a good way to piss off Monokuma. When I need you, you will need to start breaking things. I don't care how, and I don't care what. Break stuff, cause chaos, raise hell." Shiro instructed.

"DISRESPECT YOUR SURROUNDINGS! I can do that! I'm good at that!" Setsuki said with a gleam in her eyes.

"Wouldn't that make Monokuma kill Setsuki? I thought that was against the rules." Akira asked, not liking the sound of this plan.

"Only if she breaks certain things in the school. She cannot break cameras, locks, or destroy a Monokuma. But there is not a single thing in the regulation about everything else in the school." Shiro argued.

"So I just break everything that ain't locks and cameras!? Sweet! When do I get to do this? What time are ya gonna see Airi?" Setsuki asked.

"There will not be a time. If Monokuma has a time, he knows to stop me regardless of what nonsense you get yourself into. Instead, I need you to pay attention to a signal I will give, as soon as you see it, you need to start as soon as possible." Shiro explained.

"A...A signal?" Setsuki said, confused.

"Yes. You and Haru have different signals, by the way. If I say the word 'Bear' any time after this meeting adjourns, you need to start without hesitation." Shiro said, Setsuki nodding.

"Got it! Any time I hear Shiro say 'Bear' I start smashin' and grabbin'! Go anarchy on this stupid school!" Setsuki said with a thumbs up.

"If you don't have a plan for me, why did you bring me?" Akira asked.

"You are here to make Setsuki feel safe. If I asked for her to be alone, she would think I was going to kill her. The same goes for anyone else I talk to." Shiro admitted. "You guys don't trust me, so I just have to work around that by making sure I'm constantly at the mercy of others, and not the other way around."

"Will you say 'bear' when I'm not in the room? Do I have to stay by your side all the time?" Setsuki asked.

"No, the word will come up when I'm close enough for you to hear it. I can't make it sound out of place when I say it, or Monokuma will start to get suspicious." Shiro explained. "Just, make sure to not start breaking things until I leave the room, I want our actions as separate as possible."

"Got it! I guess that's it, huh?" Setsuki said.

"Indeed. Let's make a quiet exit, and rejoin the others in the dining hall." Shiro said, heading for the ladder. The three climbed out, Shiro checking to see if Monokuma had been waiting for them. Shiro's eyes widened as he saw Monokuma standing in front of them with his neutral expression.

"M-Monokuma!?" Setsuki shouted, head poking out of the trapdoor. Shiro slowly approached Monokuma.

"How much do you know, Monokuma?" Shiro accused, but Monokuma said nothing, his small plush frame not even moving.

"His eye-light's off." Akira observed, climbing out after Setsuki. "Why would his light be off?" she asked. Shiro pulled out his Monopad, checking the map to see they were still marked as outside the theater.

"It didn't change. The sensor still says we've yet to enter the theater. This Monokuma… I think it's off." Shiro theorized.

"It can turn off? Why is it off?" Setuski asked, poking at the Monokuma.

"I think it's because-" Shiro began before Setsuki let out a sudden martial arts scream, kicking the Monokuma straight in the face.

"Yeah! Superkick party!" Setsuki cheered, Akira going bug-eyed and running over the fallen Monokuma.

"Setsuki! What are you doing?!" Akira exclaimed as Setsuki rushed up to the Monokuma, lightly shoving Akira aside before climbing atop the Monokuma in a full mount. "Don't! You'll die!"

"I'm gonna show him a bit of MM-X! Now for mounted punches! DROPPIN' BOMBS ON EM!" Setsuki shouted, throwing punches to the downed Monokuma while Akira tried to pull her off. Setsuki's punches were bouncing off his stuffed visage, doing little to no visible damage.

"Setsuki, stop this immediately! He's gonna kill you when he wakes up!" Akira said, struggling as Setsuki rained blows on the plush.

"I've been waiting for this moment for weeks, Akira! I need this! I NEED TO FEEL ALIVE! You can't stop me from punching this teddybear FREAK!" Setsuki shouted, elbowing Monokuma, followed by a backfist, creating a bizarre pendulum swing of elbows into backfists.

"I can't believe that was an actual sentence." Shiro said, growling in frustration. "Get off the be-... Get off Monokuma, Setsuki!"

"Die! Die! Eat elbows! Eat more elbows! Eat all the elbows! Elbow Macaroni! ELBOWS FOR DINNE-" Setsuki was cut off when Monokuma's red eye reactivated. Setsuki let out a yelp, jumping off Monokuma and sending her and Akira to the floor. "AHH! Uhh… Shiro did it!" she shouted, pointed at Shiro.

"I didn't do anything! Don't pin this on me just because you were feeling stupid!" Shiro shot back, exasperated. The Monokuma shot up into a sitting position, everyone now staring at it with dread settling deep in their hearts. How much did the Monokuma hear while inactive? Did it feel Setsuki's attacks? Were they all dead? Then, the Monokuma unit finally spoke.

"Mono-OS, online. Rebooting. For Mono-OS to continue on Autopilot, a user must be present within the last 12 hours of the previous use. Error. Error. Error. Please assume control of the main console to restart Monokuma A.I." It said in a static monotone. The students watched in confusion of this.

"Loading 500+ morning greetings. Loading obnoxious laughter. Loading obtuse 90's references. Loading insults about Kenji. Processing. Loading Despair. Awaiting Manual input." The Monokuma continued.

"T-twelve hours? Does the mastermind need to return to the control room every 12 hours?" Akira asked.

"So, it's an AI that requires low maintenance. That explains why the mastermind can control Monokuma during nighttime hours. They would just need to turn on the AI, and then sleep." Shiro said, keeping a close eye on the rebooting Monokuma.

"You think it could just stay on autopilot." Setsuki pointed out.

"No… I think I get it. If the Monokuma AI can react to people, and can follow the masterminds orders, it would require occasional correction so it doesn't start diverging from the controller's goals. AI isn't perfect, so the mastermind having to constantly leash it makes sense so it doesn't go rouge." Shiro explained.

"Ohhh, makes sense. You know about computers and stuff, Shiro?" Setsuki asked.

"I read some of Taichi Fujisaki's books on the subject for a bit of light reading. It's nice to be at least familiar with most subjects outside of my specialities." Shiro said, pushing up his glasses slightly.

"You uhh.. Read a lotta books, dude." Setsuki said.

"It's pretty much the only thing I do outside of politics." Shiro replied.

"Manual input required. Will sleep in 3 minutes to conserve power." The Monokuma droned out.

"Well this is awkward." Akira said, rubbing her head, as Monokuma shook his head from side as he suddenly gained his movement back.

"Brbrbrbr! Hey! HEY! What're you guys doing here?" Monokuma said, his voice returning as he jumped into a standing position. "Ya lookin at me or somethin'!? Am I entertainin' to you!? Am I a clown now!? AM I?" Monokuma said, paw shaking as he pointed at the three just staring at him in shock.

"Err.. What?" Akira asked.

"Well?! Were you peepin' and creepin' and creep-in'? Well, you got caught because I'm beepin'!" Monokuma shouted, bearing his teeth.

"...Wow, he really meant it when he said obtuse 90's references." Setsuki joked, still wondering if she was going to be punished for her actions.

"Now, if you'll excuse me, I got a throbbing headache and I ain't sure why. You guys can go back to bein' shady for all I care. I don't like shady people!" Monokuma muttered, turning around and folding his arms in a huff.

"...Yo that's your problem." Setsuki said, Monokuma turning on a paw to say something before Shiro cut him off.

"Stop giving him more reasons to be here, Setsuki. We should head back to the dining hall." Shiro said, heading off for the entrance hall. Akira and Setsuki followed him to dining hall.


	52. Chapter 5: Daily Life 4

Chapter 5: Shadow Self (Daily Life 4)

 _Ding dong, ding dong!_

"Goooood morning, everyone! Here's hoping you all recharged your batteries! I know I did! Oh, and for those of you fans of nothing happening. We got a whole lot of nothing planned for you guys! Now get ready for the most Despair inducing thing I've ever done, 8 hours of lounge music! Have fun!" Monokuma announced, the screen cutting to black as the speakers started playing light jazz.

Akira got up and got herself dressed before leaving her dorm room, trying her best to ignore the light jazz playing as she saw Yukiji step out of his room. "Morning, Yukiji. So… guess it's lounge music day…" Akira said with an awkward chuckling, Yukiji nodding and rubbing his eye.

"I don't this is working the way Monokuma planned. It's just making me sleepy…" Yukiji said, yawning lightly before walking off towards the stairs, Akira following after him. The two were the last to arrive at the dining hall, getting a look at the seatings. Kenji, Haru and Naoki were chatting it up at Kenji's usual table, it was nice to see a smile on his face again. Shiro sat alone, lost in his own thoughts, writing his name with his uninjured hand on a piece of paper multiple times. Airi was in a corner of the room, looking away from everyone with a stony look on her face. Finally, Setsuki was sitting a table, waving Akira and Yukiji over.

"KiKi! Yukes! Saved you a table!" she said, Akira smiling and walking over, sitting across from Setsuki. Yukiji sat next to Akira as MonoKatering brought bagels with jam, butter and cream cheese. Beside the dishes was a small assortment of butter knives, along with pitchers of apple juice and coffee. Akira, without missing a beat, poured herself a cup of coffee.

"Well, now it feels like I'm in a coffee house, doesn't it?" Akira joked, getting a few laughs from the table.

"Well, there isn't a newspaper to read with your coffee." Setsuki said, sipping a glass of apple juice before her eyes shot wide. "No, Monokuma's gonna do a gag with a newspaper. Goddamn it, please don't-"

"MONOKUMA TIMES HAS ARRIVED!" Monokuma shouted, arms raised to ceiling as wrapped newspapers suddenly rained down onto Akira's table. Akira scrambled to get her coffee safe from the falling newspapers. She sighed, grabbing a paper and undoing the rubber band to check the headlines.

 _Not much happening at school!_

 _Akira's Hat: Where did it go?_

 _Shiro: Still doing a thing._

 _Kenji: Still sucks, more on page A7_

 _Mondays are now Light Jazz Mondays._

 _Sports Section!_

 _Sports Sports Sports Sports Sports. Sports. Touchdown Monokuma. Screw the Chiba Marines!_

"...This is a bunch of nonsense." Akira said, stunned. "How- how long did it take you to make this?!" Akira asked with a hint of disbelief.

"The real question is, how long do you think it took for me to make this?" Monokuma asked back. "Ahhh-hahahaha~"

"Why do even have this?! Was this just in case somebody said newspaper?!" Akira asked, flabbergasted.

"I got bored. I have a lot of gags like this saved up, you underestimate my ability to confuse you guys." Monokuma explained.

"This seems like a waste of time and resources." Yukiji said, pulling a rolled paper out of his hair.

"Everything in life is a waste of time and resources! It's why there's always a crossword section." Monokuma said, Akira flipping through the paper and finding a crossword section.

"Oh my God, there is…" Akira said, dropping her head onto the table.

"My stupid gags have layers, Akira. Don't underestimate me!" Monokuma warned. "Puhuhuhuhu~!"

Monokuma then vanished, leaving the dining hall.

"I… I can't even… are the bagels safe?" Akira asked.

"I managed to save a few." Setsuki said, tossing one to Akira. "They're not bad. You should try some." She said with a mouth full of bagel. Akira nodded, burying the bagel in her hand in cream cheese before chowing down.

"That's a lot of cream cheese, Akira. Do you even taste the bagel anymore?" Yukiji asked.

"No, but at this point I don't even care. I just need something to stop this smooth jazz from pissing me off." Akira muttered, clenching her fist until the knuckles were white. 

"Do you not like smooth jazz?" Setsuki asked.

"No, I don't like the idea of Monokuma making me listen to smooth jazz for eight hours. It's like.. A smooth jazz made entirely of spite." Akira said.

"...I don't think you got enough sleep, Akira." Yukiji said, worried.

"I dunno, Yukiji. I just need something to clear my head." Akira said, taking another bite of bagel, cream cheese sticking to the roof of her mouth.

Breakfast soon finished, Akira and Yukiji staying behind to clean up all the newspapers, throwing them in the proper recycling bin.

"Alright, that's done!" Akira said, dusting off her hands. "So, what should we do today?"

"Well, I was kind of hoping we could play some chess. It's been a while and it might get our minds off the music." Yukiji offered, Akira nodding and smiling.

"Sure, your lab?" she asked, Yukiji nodding and leading the way to the labs. It was raining on the grounds, Akira and Yukiji grabbing coats off the rack by the door as they ran out. They would stop along the path as Yukiji would jump into any puddle he saw, creating a splash. The two would soon make it to the labs, Akira covering her ears from the lounge music as Yukiji grabbing his keycard and opening the door to the brightly-lit lab.

"Ah, man. I forgot how bright it was in this place…" Akira said, shielding her eyes slightly. "How do you handle being in here?" she asked as Yukiji opened up his Monopouch, taking out coins and getting himself some KitKats and a bottle of milk.

"The bright lights help me stay awake." Yukiji said, setting the KitKats down and getting the chess board set up. Akira sat on the opposite side of the board. "So, best out of five?" he asked.

"Sure." Akira said as the two played. Akira found it hard to concentrate over the constant light jazz playing, losing soundly in the first round. "Good job, Yukiji."

"Thanks, you did your best. Don't worry, the music's making it hard to think for me too." he said reassuringly, Akira smiling.

"Thanks, Yukiji." she replied. The next two games went about the same with Yukiji winning. "Well, that's three." Akira said, offering a hand. Yukiji absentmindedly shook it.

"...Something wrong, Yukiji?" Akira asked, getting a soft sigh from the Ultimate Chessmaster.

"Well, I was kind of thinking about Akami and Miho…" Yukiji said, looking down.

"...Oh." Akira said. "I know, I still miss them too…" she said, putting a hand on Yukiji's shoulder.

"You know, I didn't really feel much until breakfast." Yukiji said letting out a sniffle. "I guess it's because I had been trying to, I don't know, shut it out to try and get through this…"

"But then I sat and ate breakfast with you and Setsuki and it really hit me then. They're gone. I always kind of thought they weren't ever going to die. Sitting and eating with all of you, it just felt like how things should be. But without them, everything just felt… wrong. You, Akami, Miho… you guys felt kind of like family to me…" Yukiji said, eyes reddening as tears began to flood his eyes. "It's why I hated seeing Akami so angry at me… seeing you and Miho fight... it felt like I was gonna lose family… and… and now…" he said, curling up into his chair and crying.

Akira got up and hugged Yukiji, feeling the sting of tears. "Yukiji…"

"And… the thing that makes me angry is they can't even come back. They're just… They're dead. And now when I sit at that table, I just… I just want them there with us, but they can't! They can't sit there and eat breakfast with us! What did I do, Akira?! What did I do to deserve losing my friends like this?!" Yukiji asked, voice cracking as he wrapped his arms around Akira.

"It's why I understand how Kenji feels. I can't really do anything to fix this, and I understand why he would be angry about it. Cuz… I could tell you anything you wanted to hear, but I knew it would never help. We're just people, we can't bring anyone back." Akira said, holding Yukiji tighter.

"I… I wanna go home, Akira…" Yukiji said between sobs.

"I...I'm working on it. That's all I can do. And… Try and keep the rest of us alive until I do." Akira said, patting Yukiji on the head with one hand. "I'll get you out of here, Yukiji. I promise…" she said comfortingly. It would be several minutes before Yukiji finally let go.

"Feeling better?" Akira asked as Yukiji rubbed his eyes against his sleeve.

"Yeah… thanks, Akira. I needed that." he said with a small smile. He grabbed a KitKat from his table, opening it before looking at it for a bit. "...Here, you can have this." He said, snapping along one of the lines of the KitKat to give her half of it. Akira smiled, feeling a warmth in her heart as she took her half.

"Thanks, Yukiji. Things might be tense, but we're getting to the endgame. I feel like we might have a chance to get out of here." Akira said in a reassuring tone.

Yukiji nodded and took a bite of KitKat. "Let's hope Shiro's plan works."

"Yeah. Anyway, I think I'm gonna go see how everyone's doing. I'll seeya at dinner, alright?" Akira said as she got up to leave. Yukiji waved her goodbye, Akira waving back. She pulled out her Monopad and checked to see that Airi was in her lab, walking over to the door and knocking on it. "Airi? You in?"

She waited before getting a response. "Yes." Airi said, muffled slightly by the door.

"You doing alright?" Akira asked, getting no response to that. "You mind if I come in?" she asked, hearing footsteps heading to the door. Airi soon opened it, stepping aside for Akira to step in. Akira took slow steps into Airi's lab, having a quick look around. The lab was a sterile room, walls covered with different pieces of recording and surveillance equipment and empty filing cabinets and shelves full of chemicals. Airi sat at the desk in a swivel chair, looking over a folder with papers.

"Whoa… you ever use anything in this room?" Akira asked.

"I kept a few notes in the cabinet of the students when I finally got access to the lab. I had already been writing notes on you guys to know who I could trust or depend on… I'd change the notes after every trial." Airi explained, looking at the same papers over and over again. Akira walked over to her, looking at the folder, seeing "Watanabe, Y" written on the tab.

"You remember how we all woke up in lockers?" Airi asked, Akira nodding.

"Yeah, I got locked in mine and Kenji had to bust me out. Why do you ask?" Akira asked.

"...When I got out of that locker, the first person I had met was Yukata. He was panicking and praying to his dead grandfather. I thought he was going to be utterly useless to the situation as I understood it and his weird requests to play a children's card game with him did not make that thought go away. I didn't know why he wanted to ask so much until it was too late…" Airi began, looking again at the files.

"Too… late?" Akira asked.

"I tried to keep my distance from you guys, not wanting to get attached so I could focus on figuring out who sent me into this school, and if the other students here were my enemies or not. I thought it would mean if a murder happened, it wouldn't affect me if I didn't become too close to you, I thought it would be easy… but I guess as much as I tried, I'm still human. I got attached to you guys and I still tried to not let all the murder and death get to me…" Airi said, shutting her eyes and looking away from Akira, spinning the chair so the back faced Akira.

"Any time I was alone, I'd tell myself that you were all just strangers, that it didn't matter to me if you died. I tried to maintain this image of the cold, detached Ultimate Spy, aloof to the rest of you… it hurt, because I got to know you guys better, but I tried to keep that pain hidden. I tried to stay away from the dangerous situations because I didn't want to be involved emotionally. But… Maybe if I was involved, Yukata wouldn't have killed Hana. I could've been there when he needed help, seen what I missed because I kept others out..." Airi said, tightening the grip on her hands.

"I thought… I thought being quiet was just how you worked, Airi." Akira admitted.

"That's what I wanted you guys to think… I was raised as a tool, so my opinions just made my missions harder for me. But… I don't think I'm anyone's tool right now, but I still acted like it, and did nothing but make things more difficult. Remember what I said about Yukata asking me to play games? I wasn't sure why he wanted to do that. Why would he want to duel some stranger he met in such… sinister circumstances?"

"Well, maybe he was just trying to make the best of a bad situation…" Akira suggested. Airi sighed and nodded.

"That's the thing about Yukata. He… He used his games as a way to make friends with others, and connect with them because he wasn't the best at conversation. It was his way of opening himself up to other people. And given that I was closing myself off, I was left unsure of how to see him but as a distraction from whatever my job was. I only got that when I accepted to play with him that it was his way of expressing his friendship. But… When he needed someone, and Kenji couldn't help… He felt like he had no one else."

"He had someone… he had someone, goddamnit! He had me." Airi growled out in disgust with herself. "But… Of all the times I decided to try and stay out of things, it was one of the only times I could help! He was alone, and I could have saved him and Hana from the fate they had. I just drove things to the edge with my indifference, I made things dire to the point he felt like it was the only thing he could do!" Airi shouted, tears starting to form in her eyes, pulling her sleeve up to bite it from frustration. "I… I'm a fuckup, Akira. I'm sorry I couldn't do more, it's even put me in the crosshairs of suspicion a few times when I couldn't explain why I would just… disappear without telling anyone." Airi said, looking away from the police cadet.

"Airi…" Akira said, grabbing the chair and spinning it so they were face to face. "You're not a fuckup. Our situation was one none of us could have predicted and even if you and Yukata were inseparable, there's no guarantee that you would've been able to stop him. Our friendships were being tested in that bunker and even me and Kenji exploded at each other. And Yukata didn't want to kill us all until he watched that Despair Tape. You don't have to shoulder everyone's burdens on your own, and you can't stop something you never even predicted to begin with." Akira said, putting a hand on her shoulder. 

"I just… wish I could go back. Back to when I came out of that locker and just said yes to that card game. Go back and make friends with one of you before it all went to hell. I could've helped Emi and Kenji catch the Mastermind. I could've learned people's secrets and shut down the whole Monokuma Theater. I could've stayed watch over Yukata and kept Shiro from going near Akami. But I just kept sitting back and letting all this happen…" Airi said, sinking into the chair.

"There's always something we want to go back and change about our lives. Something we wished we did or didn't do. Every morning I wake up thinking about when I drove that car into my middle school and wanting to take that back. But I don't dwell on it because if I didn't, I probably wouldn't have changed who I was. I wouldn't be the Ultimate Police Cadet if it weren't for that accident. Hell, I don't know where I would be if it weren't for the accident. But what's important is who I could've been and I what I should've done then, it's who I am and I what do now." Akira said, Airi looking up at her with a weak smile.

"We can't change who we were, but we can use who we were to make who we are even better…" Akira said, Airi chuckling.

"I see why Miho always called you a dork…" Airi said with a laugh, Akira laughing in response.

"Shut up."Akira said with a smile. Airi got up from her chair, putting Yukata's papers back into the folder. "Just, spend more time with us if you really want to make up for how you were before. There's always a seat open at our table." Akira offered, Airi fighting back the tears as she put the folder back in the file cabinet.

"Thanks, Akira. I'll join you guys at dinner tonight." Airi said, smiling in full. Akira smiled back, her face soon changing to a frown as she looked down at the floor, brow furrowed. "Akira? What's wrong?" Airi asked, noticing the sudden change.

"It just hit me, you weren't here at Future Crest when everything first down, right?" Akira asked, the Ultimate Spy nodding. "So, how did you have a lab like the rest of us?" Akira asked as a follow-up question, Airi's eyes going wide with a mix of comprehension and concern. Without another word, Airi began to sift through the papers in her lab to research.

"Tha-… I feel like that's a massive issue that needs to be resolved. Excuse me, Akira. I need to turn this lab inside out to look for clues." Airi said, grabbing everything her eyes could see, tossing surveillance equipment to the floor. She grabbed a drawer from the filing cabinet, lifting it up and dumping the contents onto the desk.

"Did you want my he-" Akira offered, Airi cutting her off.

"No offense to you, but I work faster by myself. I'll talk to you when I find something." she said, eyes darting from paper to paper and toward every corner of the lab for possible hidden Monokumas. "I'll still see you at dinner, but I gotta- I just gotta know where this lab came from!"

"Alright… good luck. Hope you find something…" Akira said, walking out of the lab.


	53. Chapter 5: Daily Life 5

Chapter 5: Shadow Self (Daily Life 5)

Kenji dropped a few Monocoins into the vending machine, getting a bag of gummy worms. "You want anything, Naoki?" he asked, Naoki looking over the selection.

"Hmm… Do they have those mini Oreos? I love those." Naoki asked, Kenji spotting them and dropping another two Monocoins. Naoki grabbed the bag, an excited smile on his face that faded as he soon as he saw the packaging.

"...Monoreos? Really? MONOREOS!?" Naoki complained, looking at the modified bag of oreos. He opened the bag, pulling out a cookie that had little bear ears on top of the cookie. "Is everything Monokuma he-" Naoki started before Kenji clasped his hand over his mouth.

"Shh! Don't let him hear you! He's gonna come in and start explaining his branding!" Kenji said with a hushed tone. Naoki looked confusedly at Kenji, but nodded. "Thank you." Kenji said, letting go of Naoki's mouth. The two walked through the halls, eating their snacks.

"Man, it's really weird to be walking around the halls so easily. I'm used to it being so crowded you could barely get to classes." Naoki said between bites of Monoreos. "Being shoulder to shoulder with students, and getting bodied against the lockers on the fourth floor trying to get my notes."

"Really? Wow, I never really thought of that… I guess I've just gotten used to how empty this place is." Kenji said.

"I don't remember the exact headcount, but this school had 700 or so people in it. And since it was a college, a lot of people had different classes in different orders." Naoki explained. "So, where we going, man?"

"I dunno, I've just been kind of walking. Anywhere you wanna go?" Kenji asked as Naoki came to a sudden stop, looking at the ceiling in thought.

"Hm… Is it alright if we talked about something?" Naoki asked, Kenji turning to him and looking at his friend, who had a look of concern on his face.

"What's up?" Kenji asked, closing the distance between them. Naoki looked over the railing, seeing Setsuki trying to talk Airi into wearing roller skates. He then turned back to Kenji.

"Here's not a good place. Let's talk in your room, dude." Naoki added, Kenji nodding and quietly guiding him back to his dorm as Naoki popped a mini cookie into his mouth. Kenji opened his door, locking it behind him as Naoki slowly went to sit on Kenji's bed, with Kenji sitting on the floor.

"Can we talk now?" Kenji asked, Naoki giving a nod, clearing his throat.

"Look, I know I haven't been around you guys much recently, but... How many of us are dead is making me worried. Are you absolutely sure you don't know who the mastermind is?" Naoki asked, putting Kenji aback. Kenji leaned forward and scratched the side of his head.

"I don't have any information, so anything I guessed would be wrong." Kenji started, digging into the bag for his own Oreo from what Naoki was holding. "Just.. Shiro's been spreading this idea that it's one of us. I don't want to think about it, but what if he's right?" Kenji asked himself, Naoki getting off his bed and sitting on the floor with him.

"I gotta be real with you. I don't know what Shiro's been though recently, like why he lost two fingers, but I don't think we should blindly trust this plan." Naoki said.

"I already don't trust Shiro, and I've been browbeat by everyone to give him a pass. Did you see him doing anything weird outside of him instructing people what to do?" Kenji asked.

"I mean, I get the instructing people, but… He's been doing weird stuff, and that's been what's bothering me." Naoki said. "I saw Shiro outside at like.. 2 AM last night. Didn't you tell me not to stay out after 10?" Naoki explained, taking a sip of some water to wash down more cookie.

"Why were you out after 10, then?" Kenji asked, curious.

"I got heartburn and needed a drink, sue me. But what Shiro did was weird. He left the dorm, and didn't come back until later. I cracked my dorm room open and only heard him come back just before the morning announcement. And when he did, he was covered in dirt and blood." Naoki said, Kenji looking slightly concerned.

"Dirt and blood? You don't think-" Kenji said.

"No, I checked. Everyone's still here. But it all just seems kind of weird, don't it? That, and every person who died would stand a chance against Monokuma, the ones who are left don't like violence, or don't have a way to escape the school." Naoki said, fidgeting with his hat slightly.

"What do you mean?" Kenji asked.

"It was like.. It was like every person who died was someone you relied on, but Shiro lived through his only chance to die, both when he was guilty, and when he was the motive for that bunker. Everyone who could help us the most are victims or blackened. It's almost like we're being forced to rely on Shiro because everyone else is dead." Naoki explained. "Like, Emi was rigged out of the whole thing, when she was the best chance at escaping. Rio had navigation skills, and could make entire maps in his head and was a chill dude who would have kept the group together."

"I…" Kenji stammered, Naoki cutting him off.

"Bam was a very nice guy, and could cheer up even the saddest of us. Wakako was very intelligent, and an extremely good actress. She could lie better than any of us and trick Monokuma."

"Well, not the Wakako we saw…" Kenji pointed out. "She was… damaged beyond return, mentally." Kenji said sadly.

"That's a shame… But still.. Miho was one of the best fighters I know of, and Akira's girlfriend. Akami didn't have any great escape skills, but most of us liked him. It wasn't hard to like Akami… Reiko was such a badass she could could probably just beat the shit out of the mastermind. Yukata was like you in the fact he was very good at influencing others, and Hana was one of the most competitive people we had." Naoki explained, listing each person off with a finger.

"All we have left is Airi, who I don't know. Haru, who just wants to take care of his dog. Setsuki, who is an emotional trainwreck right now, Akira, who is trying her best to be a leader, but has to rely on Shiro, yet again. Yukiji, who's too meek to do anything, And you n' me. Airi's with Shiro, Setsuki's with Akira. Yukiji's with Akira, and Akira's with Shiro. They're all dependant on him because of his plan." Naoki continued, folding his arms over his chest.

"We still got Haru, man. He's making sure Shiro doesn't cause trouble." Kenji argued.

"I think Haru's just trying to stop people from fighting, at this point." Naoki said. "I guess most of you guys are just worn out from the violence. There has to be a better way than trusting just Shiro, we have to find another way to draw out the mastermind."

"What would you suggest?" Kenji asked.

"Stakeout. Like two hard boiled detectives. We'll mark a single person every day, and follow them just out of range for them to notice us, and see if they do any weird stuff. We can stop Shiro's plan before he pulls it off by just observing him and what he does." Naoki suggested.

"I dunno, what if they catch us in the act?" Kenji asked.

"We'll worry about that if we get caught." Naoki said with a confident smile, getting to his feet. Kenji smiled back, rising as well.

"Alright, so who are we gonna mark first?" Kenji asked.

"Well since we're talking about him, Shiro. We're gonna find Shiro, and watch him for as long as we can without getting caught." Naoki said. "Now, let's go a find him." he said, Kenji pulling his Monopad and checking his last known location.

"He's… In the exercise room." Kenji assessed, zooming the map in closer.

"Exercise room? We have that?" Naoki asked.

"I think we do. I remember Reiko yelling at me about treadmills… wait, how do you not know about the exercise room? You've been here for two years" Kenji pointed out.

"I was locked in a box for half a year. Get off my ass, Kenji." Naoki shot back, heading for the third floor. Kenji followed him as they made their way along the corridor to the exercise room. Kenji opened the door, looking inside and expecting to see Shiro.

He saw Haru standing next to a treadmill, crouching next to Kiko who was bouncing along on the treadmill in a happy cantor. Setsuki was twirling her skateboard against the floor with her fingers.

"Hey Kenji." Setsuki said with a listless sigh. "Airi was a bust. She didn't wanna try rollerblading." She complained with a frustrated huff.

"...You tried to get Airi to rollerblade?" Kenji asked, scratching his head.

"She needs a hobby, just like Akira. Ya can't really be a spy when we all know each other, and you can't be a cop if all Akira does is make you sit in a closet until she gets bored." Setsuki replied, standing up and tucking her board under her arm in a mall grab.

"...Closet?" Naoki asked.

"She has a little crummy cell you sit in when you're grounded by her. You just sit there until she gets bored and tells you to leave." Setsuki explained, Naoki blinking a few times as Kenji looked around the room.

"The Monopad said Shiro was in here. Is he hiding in a locker or something?" Kenji asked.

"I dunno, maybe. When I got here, it was just Haru." Setsuki said with a shrug.

"Actually Setsuki, I heard someone open the door, but then they closed it again. I didn't get to see who it was, I'm trying to make Kiko lose some weight! She's getting fat in the mid-part." Haru explained, watching Kiko run. "Gotta run off that shitty dog food!"

"So, wait… if he's not here, then where is he?" Kenji asked, double-checking the Monopad. He saw Shiro's icon suddenly blinked from the exercise room to the hallway outside it. "Wait, what? Guys, I think my Monopad's busted. Now he's out in the hall, but he wasn't here so how did he-" Kenji tried to ask, before he was cut off.

"Kenji, there you are." Shiro said, Kenji wheeling around to see him standing in the door frame.

"W-where did he come from!?" Naoki stammered, surprised.

"Shiro?!" Kenji asked, eyes wide.

"There he is!" Setsuki shouted, pointing to the Ultimate Politician.

"Yes. There I am." Shiro said, stepping into the room. Shiro's icon pinged back into the exercise room.

"How did you do that?" Kenji asked, very confused.

"I'll explain later. But for now, I need to speak with you, Kenji." Shiro said, pushing up his glasses and dusting off his jacket. Kenji looked and saw that Shiro's white suit was covered in scuffs of dirt on the lapel and shoulders and sleeves, and a large amount of faded bloodstains on his injured hand.

"...What do you want to talk to me for?" Kenji asked warily.

"Whatever it will be, it needs to be out of earshot of Haru and his canine." Shiro said, Kiko coming to a sudden stop and falling off the treadmill.

"Whoa! Kiko, are you alright, girl?!" Haru said as he ran over her. Kiko's mouth twitched in the corner as she began to softly growl, her whole body vibrating and making her hair puff out even further. "H-hey, easy girl… you're going at maximum fluff. Just take it easy and-" Haru said, scrambling in his pocket for jerky when Kiko suddenly exploded into a flurry of squeaking barks, bolting out of the exercise room with Haru chasing after her.

"Whoa, never saw Kiko so mad. I mean, she's still as threatening as a fluffy pillow with small, vicious teeth, but dang…" Setsuki said.

"Setsuki, get the damn bear over here." Shiro said, Setsuki tossing her skateboard at a nearby vending machine, smashing the glass and sending it to the floor in a pile of tempered glass.

"MAN, FUCK VENDING MACHINES!" Setsuki shouted, grabbing the board and wailing on the vending machine with it, ripping water bottles out and throwing them to the floor. "FIVE MONOCOINS FOR A BOTTLED WATER?! THAT'S HIGHWAY ROBBERY! KILLING GAMES ARE STUPID!" Setsuki shouted, running out to the stairway and kicking the railing so hard some of the wood snapped. "THESE STAIRS SUCK."

"What the fuck is she doing!?" Naoki stammered out, confused. "S-She's gone crazy! Aren't there rules against doing that?!"

"I'm gonna set shit on FIRE! Whoo! Anarchy!" Setsuki yelled as she jumped over the stairs. Kenji watched, clutching at the sides of his head.

"She's gonna get herself killed! Monokuma's gonna-" Kenji exclaimed when a panicked shriek echoed through the halls. Before Kenji could turn, he was shoved off his feet as Monokuma barreled through, screaming bloody murder.

"She's eating my head! She's eating my head! Get her off me! Noooooo!" he shouted, Kiko sinking her teeth into one of Monokuma's ears. Monokuma batted at his own head, missing the dog entirely. "HARU YOU BETTER DO SOMETHING ABOUT THIS!"

"What the actual fuck is happening!?" Naoki shouted as Haru chased after Monokuma.

"Stay still, ya dumb bear! I'm trying to get her OFF your head!" Haru shouted, going for a jumping tackle to try and catch Monokuma.

"Hardcore parkour! Imma jump off the top of the school!" Setsuki said, headbutting her way through the front door using the helmet she had on, and reaching through it to open the door from the other side.

"Setsuki! Stop it! Why are you being weird?! Stop being weird!" Akira shouted as she chased after Setsuki, who had just run out the front door. "Where the hell are my handcuffs!?"

"What… has everyone gone insane?!" Kenji asked, watching this carnage. He suddenly felt Shiro firmly grasp his wrist, Kenji pulling away before Shiro grabbed hard enough to send Kenji stumbling forward.

"We're getting Airi. Now." Shiro said, dragging Kenji off.

"W-wait!? What about Kiko!? Is Setsuki going to be okay!? Shiro, what the hell is going on?!" Kenji asked, trying to put his feet down onto the floor.

"LIBRARY. NOW." Shiro yelled over the chaos, stunning Kenji enough to be able to drag him off again. Naoki quickly followed them, trying to get in front of Shiro.

"Whoa, where are you guys going?! Everything's going crazy!" he asked, Shiro looking back at him with a glare as he adjusted his tie.

"And that's exactly why we're leaving. I need Kenji and I need to get away from this noise." Shiro explained.

"Then I'll come with you guys." Naoki said, walking to grab Kenji, but Shiro lightly shoved him back off.

"What was that for!?" Naoki complained, Kenji looking at the two of them with confusion.

"I'll tell you when I damn well need you. Stay out of this, Tsukada!" Shiro snapped at Naoki, the Ultimate Lucky Student taking a step back.

"Whoa, hang on a second, Shiro! Naoki's our friend and-" Kenji said in objection, Shiro turning his glare to him.

"I explained myself enough. This isn't Naoki's job, so he stays out of it." Shiro said, dragging Kenji away to the library. "Now, come on. We're losing time."

Shiro kicked the door to the library, forcing the unlocked doors open, Airi browsing some files while chewing the tip of a pen as her attention snapped to the sudden rush of light in the room. 

"Ah. Shiro. The door wasn't unlocked." Airi said matter-of-factly.

"Doesn't matter. We need to go now before things settle. Kenji, do you still have the key for Emi's lab?" Shiro asked, Letting go of Kenji's wrist and leaving him rubbing it in discomfort. 

"No, but it should be in Akira's lab. Why?" Kenji replied, looking at him with suspicion.

"I'll tell you when we get there." Shiro replied, before turning to Airi. "And you have the outlines I need?"

"One to one with the original. I used a microscope to make sure of that. They're in my lab. Did you hide the original?" Airi asked.

"I buried it last night. He'll find it, but it will take Monokuma a while." Shiro said, Kenji going back-and-forth between the two.

"What the fuck are we talking about!?" he asked, Shiro looking back to Kenji. Shiro stuffed his hands into his pockets and marched out the library, Airi following him as Kenji looked back outside the library. A small pile of wood sitting in the center of the entrance that was set on fire. Shiro marched down the stairs, Kenji and Airi following as they made it past the fire and to the entrance.

"I have a bomb in me, Haru! A BOMB! Get your dog off me before I blow up the school!" Monokuma shouted, scrambling to escape Kiko's bite while trying to leap into the fountain.

"Don't you see me trying!? Kiko's gone rabid! Hold still, idiot!" Haru shouted in response, grabbing onto Monokuma and trying to peel his dog off of him. Shiro led Kenji and Airi to the labs, ignoring the madness as he got up to the entrance, grabbing Akira's keycard and handing it to Kenji.

"Emi's keycard. Meet us at her lab when you get it." Shiro said, grabbing Airi's keycard and giving it to her before they walked off. Kenji sighed and headed to Akira's lab. He stopped at the lab door, knocking on it to make sure Akira wasn't in there before going in.

Kenji got on his knees and pulled the file cabinet open, sifting his hands along the bottom until he found the key for Emi's lab on the bottom. Pulling it out and looking at it with a sigh. "Am I really doing this?" Kenji asked, feeling a weight of guilt around his chest as he left the lab, making sure everything was in order so Akira didn't know he had been there.

Kenji met back with Shiro and Airi, seeing Airi throw a towel over the nearby camera. "Alright, I got the keycard. What are we doing?" he asked.

"I'll explain in the lab. Just get us in." Shiro said, Kenji nodding and opening the door. The three walked inside, Airi looking around at all the pictures. After a few seconds, she grabbed a picture of Kenji and Yukata trying to play cards while Bam loudly commentated the match with a megaphone, taping it over the camera. She then walked over to every saw she could find, turning them on full blast. Kenji groaned, covering his ears in pain as loud whirring filled the room.

"Alright, now we can talk!" Shiro said, trying to keep his voice above the saws but not loud enough to be picked up the microphone. "Do you remember the Monokey that can open any door?! The one he gave us to free Naoki?!" he asked, Kenji mostly reading his lips.

"Yeah! He took it away!" Kenji shouted back.

"I had a theory that I tested last night! If the joker key was a copy of the Monokey!" Shiro said.

"The Joker Key? Do you mean the one we got in the bunker?!" Kenji asked.

"Exactly! It was a skeleton key just like the one he used! I tested it last night, and it opened 7 different locks on the campus! I'm pretty sure that means it's a copy."

"Why didn't Monokuma take it away!?" Kenji asked, checking the camera to see it was still obscured.

"I think he just forgot to! I felt as if the moment I tried to use it, Monokuma would take it away from me. To prevent that, we're here to make our own copy of the key!" Shiro explained.

"Shiro couldn't get his left hand capable of drawing a picture perfect outline of the key for us to copy it, so he took it to me, and I made an almost perfect copy in a special ink I use." Airi added.

"Special ink?" Kenji asked.

"Yes." Airi said, pulling out a small card from her pocket, it being completely blank. "Kenji, find some sheet metal! Something light but strong, and not prone to bending!"

"Uhh.. Like Brass, or steel?" Kenji asked, Airi nodding. Kenji reached into a small bin and grabbed some sheets of brass, setting it on the table as Airi pressed the card onto the sheet, gently tapping on each side and pushing both her hands as firmly as she could onto it.

"This should work…" Airi said, pulling the card away, as a perfectly clean, blueprint esque copy of the Joker Key appeared on the sheet of metal in a shade of fluorescent blue. "This will fade within half an hour, leaving no trace behind. I use it when I need to pass messages or copy documents!" Airi added, as Kenji's eyes lit up.

"Holy shit that's kinda cool!" Kenji exclaimed, finally getting a glimpse at some of Airi's cool spy technology. "Though, why don't you have the original Joker Key?"

"I buried it! The longer it takes Monokuma to find it, the less he'll know about what I'm doing!" Shiro explained, before a thought dawned on him. "I forgot to ask, Kenji, can you operate a jigsaw!?" Shiro said, walking over, grabbing a large reciprocating saw and placing it on a nearby table for Kenji.

"I think so! I brought over a few sheets of metal just in case I mess the first one up!" Kenji shouted. Shiro and Airi carefully lined up the metal sheet. Kenji turning the blade on, and letting Airi and Shiro guide the metal to match each turn and bump of the key. Once they removed the base shape of the key, Kenji reached into a drawer for a wire file.

"I guess it's not a real key until we get the teeth the right shape. Do you know how those look, Airi?" Kenji asked, taking the two loops of the wire file on both of his fingers, slowly whittling the key steadily to make the key look more rounded with a more defined crown, so it can fit in the key hole.

"Eidetic memory, I remember the width of the key, and how the teeth of the key look. Once we're finished with that, we should sand the key to make sure it's smooth enough that we can pull the key back out once we're using it." Airi continued, as Kenji filed the key with the wire file, suddenly, he accidentally cut his finger, dropping the metal on the ground.

"Shit, I got it. Sorry!" Kenji said getting on the floor and grabbing the key, pulling his chair back and sitting back in it as he went back to filing with Airi's overwatch.

"You're getting close to the dimensions we need on the teeth, Kenji. A few more, and we'll be able to sand it down to size." Airi explained.

"Why are we making a fake key?" Kenji asked.

"To put it bluntly, I'm going to kill the mastermind myself, and I need this key to find him." Shiro said, holding up the key to inspect it.

"Y...You know where the mastermind is?" Kenji asked, surprised.

"I'm pretty sure I do. And I need the key to get there." Shiro said as they took the key to a table, grabbing some sandpaper and quietly whittling it down in his fingers. He moved carefully to avoid needlessly injuring his other hand. He filed down the key to get rid of any left over metal and make it smooth.

"Airi. Try this on the lab door." Shiro said, Airi nodding and taking the key from Shiro. She locked the door on one side, then shut the door behind her. She then opened the door, giving a thumbs up. "Perfect! We got a skeleton key! Thanks for your help, you two. Airi, the key." Shiro said, Airi tossing him the key.

"And we're done here. Kenji, would you mind shutting off the equipment?" Shiro asked over the whirring saws.

"Uhh… sure!" Kenji said as Shiro and Airi turned to leave. Kenji began turning off the saws in Emi's lab, looking over the pictures hung on the walls and putting a hand in his pocket.

"I'll save everyone, Emi. I promise."


	54. Chapter 5: Daily Life 6

Chapter 5: Shadow Self (Daily Life 6)

"I am so disappointed in you." Akira said from behind her desk. "If this weren't a Killing Game, you'd be getting fifteen years and several thousands of dollars in fines. But because this _is_ a Killing Game, Monokuma hates your guts, which might be even worse! What were you thinking?!" she shouted.

"I wasn't thinking!" Setsuki shouted, her voice coming through the speaker.

"Exactly! You weren't thinking and you could've wrecked the whole school! You're lucky Monokuma was busy getting his head chewed on." Akira said.

"He's probably gonna barge in here and make a joke abou-" Setsuki argued before Akira cut her off.

"He's gonna kill you, Setsuki! Don't you get it!? He might kill Kiko too!" Akira shouted.

"It was a risk, yes. But I needed a big enough window of time to keep Monokuma off my case." a voice suddenly said from behind Akira. She jumped slightly, turning around to see Shiro standing there.

"Shiro! What are you doing- how did you-?" Akira sputtered as he stepped into the lab.

"I'm here to bail Setsuki out. She acted under my orders as a distraction for Monokuma, Haru was part of that as well. Don't you remember when we met under the theater?" Shiro explained.

"I mean, yeah I remember it's just… I didn't think it was going to end up with several things on fire! I didn't hear you say bear, I thought she had a breakdown or something!" Akira countered.

"I thought I wasn't supposed to tell you when I started breakin' stuff!" Setsuki objected. Akira just sighed and walked to the door to grab the handle.

"No more breaking crap when you get out, okay?" Akira pleaded.

"I think we won't need her to do any more damage." Shiro said reassuringly as Setsuki walked off. "Now then, I need you to do something."

"Yeah? What's up?" Akira asked.

"My muscles have been a lot tighter since the bunker… and I'm assuming yours aren't doing well, either." Shiro said.

"Well, yeah. It's been pretty stressful. But why bring that up?" Akira said, confused.

"I was thinking we could… take a trip to the sauna." Shiro said, looking away.

"Wh-what?! Shiro, that's- I-" Akira said, stammering and turning beet red.

"Don't worry. I won't look and the saunas don't have cameras, right?" Shiro asked.

"Y-yes! But I don't- Oh. Ohhhhh, I get it!" Akira said. "Well, alright. I think I'll take my sauna first. I mean, I did just have to wrangle Setsuki into a cell."

Shiro nodded and left the room, Akira following him out of the labs and to the pool building. Akira grabbed her swimsuit from the locker room. "Alright, I'm gonna get changed. You got your swimsuit?" Akira asked.

"No, I've never gone into the pool. That and I didn't have any Monocoins." Shiro said.

"You didn't take any from Yukata's case after you found it?" Akira wondered, but Shiro just shook his head and looked over to the sauna booth.

"It was evidence. I'm not going to tamper with evidence." Shiro explained.

"Well, I have a few coins. Maybe we'll find yours." Akira said, reaching into her Monopouch and dropping in a coin. What came out didn't seem like Shiro's swim shorts, but seemed more like a generic pair of red shorts. "Yours?"

"No. but they'll do." Shiro answered, Akira tossing them to him before heading for the locker room to change. The two grabbed towels before stepping into the spa. Making sure to lock the door, Shiro and Akira looked across from each other, as Shiro was forced to take off his glasses to stop them from fogging up.

"...Are you sure it's okay to be in a sauna with a fresh wound, Shiro?" Akira asked. "It's only been a couple of days since you lost your fingers…"

"Then let's try and keep things quick." Shiro said, lacing what fingers he had as the heat in the room increased. Akira could tell that not having all the fingers on his dominant hand anymore was bothering him. "I've been rather… quiet about my ultimate plan for a while, but I think I can tell you this in full confidence. I am going to find and kill the Mastermind."

"But… You're going to kill someone again? What about trying to redeem yourself? Didn't you want to get out of the school alive?"

"Akira. I don't think you can understand this… But I'm already dead. I died twice, or I was supposed to die. And yet I lived, both times. I've killed someone, I was supposed to die this whole time." Shiro said, voice sounding weary. "If my theory is correct, then I know where the Mastermind is and I can stop them for good. Even if it means that I die as well, I'll be able to save the rest of you." Shiro continued, before shaking his head. "God. I hate that I'm actually sincerely saying these things. This whole situation is contrived and awful." He complained with a chuckle.

"Shiro, what are you planning…?" Akira asked, voice shaky with worry. 

"Do you remember the key Monokuma used to free Naoki from his cell? I was struggling with blood loss, but I heard something that was interesting. The Monokey was apparently a master key, capable of opening any lock it fits. It was a skeleton style key, too, that made me curious." Shiro explained. "I still had the Joker Key on my person, so I wondered if Monokuma used a spare Monokey, painted it another color, and used it as a reward for Yukata."

"That's a lot to assume…" Akira said, Shiro nodding in agreement.

"It was a leap of faith, yes. And if I was wrong, then I wouldn't have gotten to this point. My theory held true when I used the Joker Key to unlock and lock all the doors in the theater. I attempted to trace it, but my injured hand wouldn't allow it." Shiro said, taking a moment to swallow.

"I handed it to Airi, her photographic memory allowed her to create a perfect tracing of it, with the dimensions remembered as well. After that, I buried it somewhere so Monokuma would have to search for it." Shiro continued. "After, I had Kenji carve out a spare skeleton key. Once we got it to shape, it seemed to work perfectly."

"All the while, I was searching for rooms we had never been in. Hidden, locked doors. And I think I've found where the Mastermind is hidden…" Shiro said, wiping his glasses again. "Just keep in mind. Do not ever reference a key, or where I'm planning on going."

"Wait, what? You know where the Mastermind is?" Akira asked, shocked.

"Not really. I just have a theory that they've hidden in the bunker. It's the deepest part of the campus, and every class trial involves that elevator. I imagine that's the closest place to the Mastermind's bunker. Do you remember when Monokuma turned off?" Shiro asked.

"Yeah, what about it?" Akira asked in response.

"Monokuma's user has to be present within the last 12 hours of previous use. That means the Mastermind wasn't in the bunker at the time when Monokuma shut down. They were with us, and that means that person has to make a trip down to the interface to reactivate Monokuma."

"...But wouldn't it make sense if the Mastermind never joined us in the first place and stayed in secret to keep the interface active?" Akira asked, scratching her head.

"Monokuma needs to interact with more than one person at a time. The only way to pull that off would be an AI, or if the Mastermind was an actual genius. They're either getting complacent and slipping up, or something changed and they're planning something." Shiro surmised.

"What if the something that changed was Naoki?" Akira guessed.

"Naoki?" Shiro asked, blinking slightly.

"Yeah. He kept Naoki trapped underground for that long, and once he was freed, Monokuma started turning off, like the Mastermind is worried about having Naoki out of his cage and can't keep Monokuma running without looking suspicious." Akira said, putting a hand to her chin.

"Why is Monokuma worried about Naoki?" Shiro asked, trying to follow Akira.

"...Maybe because he remembered what happened in the school. He can get everyone on the same page and quickly oust the villain. Hell, he might even know who shot up the school and held us hostage, if he saw their face." Akira continued, hitting her own palm like a gavel.

"I didn't think about that. I just assumed Naoki was just because the mastermind had an extra student and he was the least… notable." Shiro thought. "If there were drugs involved… Maybe he couldn't drug Naoki and had to trap him instead?" Shiro continued, Akira having a fire in her eyes.

"Maybe we should tell Naoki about this plan! He might know what's goin' on!" Akira said, standing up with her hands balled into fists.

"No, we can't." Shiro said, shaking his head. "This plan has to be air tight, the only reason I'm telling you, is because you're the only one I trust."

"Are you really sure about that? Why not tell someone else?" Akira asked, becoming unsure about this plan.

"If this plan fails, I want to be the only one who has to suffer. I'm not going to bring everyone down, not anymore." Shiro said, looking at the ground. "Anyway… The mastermind has to be back in 12 hours. I'll use that time to set up and ambush and kill them, I'll notify everyone as soon as I do, and then we'll figure out how to leave the school."

"So you're involving me… What do I do?" Akira asked.

"Meet me tomorrow at 7 P.M. in front of the hospital. I'll head out tonight, if the ambush works, I'll be sending out a message around 3 PM. If I don't show up before 7 PM, form a search party and stay together under any circumstances. Don't let the mastermind reactivate Monokuma. Keep it dead, try to track everyone and make sure they don't leave your sights." Shiro said, Akira nodding.

"Got it." she replied, Shiro sighing in relief before standing up.

"I think that's all for now. Akira, there's about a 50% chance this won't work. If this fails, just try your best, alright?" He said, turning the lock of the sauna booth and opening it, letting out a huge billow of steam and meeting an angry Monokuma, covered in dirt, with one of his ears leaking stuffing.

"I've been playing stupid long enough! I know you're doing something, Shiro!" Monokuma shouted, bearing his claws and pointing at the two of them accusingly. "I'm here to tell ya it won't work! You think you're so damn cool… but you're just an idiot!"

"I have no idea what you're talking about, Monokuma." Shiro said evasively.

"Oh, oh? OH! You think you can play that with me!? You're full of crap! Do you call this a plan!? I saw through it IMMEDIATELY! I know everything! The secret meetings, the key, all of it!" Monokuma shouted.

"Shiro, how did he know about the f-" Akira was going to ask, but Shiro covered her mouth with his hand, glaring at the bear with a stone face.

"What key?" Shiro asked.

"Well, while I was cleaning up the bunker I had noticed that the Joker Key wasn't in my special key box! I tried to remember who had it, but then I remember that -YOU- had the key! I was gonna take the key from you after Naoki got freed, but then you had to go and pass out, didn't you?!" Monokuma shouted.

"You're right. I passed out on purpose so it would cause a scene, and you would forget I was holding your key after you took the Monokey from Akira." Shiro admitted, Akira's eyes widening.

"You faked passing out?! I thought you were hurt!" Akira exclaimed, not able to believe his plan went back that far.

"I was hurt, so I thought it made my fainting more authentic for the beginning of my plan." Shiro explained. "Sorry for worrying you."

"And then you got Setsuki to go and break everything so I'd focus on her and got Haru to make his stupid mutt start biting my head! You knew I didn't have it in me to kill that little pooch and bypass my regulations!" Monokuma shouted. "But not anymore. If that dog gets in my way again she's dead, got it!?"

"That was indeed a distraction." Shiro said.

"And you did it to bury the Joker key so you can find it later. You want to use that key to find the control room and kill me, aren't you!?" Monokuma shouted, as soon as he heard 'Joker Key' Shiro had to fight giving the bear the most sadistic grin. The bear fell for it. Monokuma's anger failed to subside as Shiro calmly adjusted his glasses.

"Did you find the Joker Key?" He said, fighting the boiling feeling of mocking laughter rising up in him.

"Oh, you bet I did! It's a shame the hole was so small because I would've BURIED you in it!" Monokuma threatened. That was the moment Akira realized what Shiro just pulled off, distracting Monokuma with an obvious plan to hide his real one, her jaw dropped slightly as she tried not to say anything.

"You buried it behind the dorm! Like I wouldn't look there. There are cameras there, you idiot! I can even tell you buried it last night around 11PM! Your plan FAILED! You SUCK. Maybe you could've done a better plan if you killed yourself and let Yukata trick everyone into picking the wrong blackened and dying. You can't trick me, I'm the one who tricks people around here, punk!" Monokuma ranted, Shiro slowly drawing his hands into his pockets as he calmly walked over to retrieve his suit off the coat rack.

"You're right, Monokuma. You truly are a genius and I've been nothing but a failure since I killed Akami. I can't hope to best you in this game of wits." Shiro said, Monokuma chuckling.

"Kyeheheheh~ About time you finally got off your high horse! I've had it with your ego since you got here!" Monokuma said, seeming to be falling for it.

"Looks like my plan is foiled, pack it in, Akira." Shiro said, sliding his jacket back over his dress shirt and switching back to a pair of pants. "Monokuma's clearly solved everything." He said, slowly tying his tie back around his neck with unmatched dexterity.

"Is that… sarcasm in your voice!? I figured it out! I told you I did!" Monokuma stammered, wondering if Shiro still had something over his head.

"Yes, you did figure it out. I'm so proud of you." Shiro said, hiding less and less of his sarcasm as Akira watched dumbfounded. "Akira and I are done here, you should leave."

"What are you talking about!? Shiro! Stop playing coy!" Monokuma yelled as Shiro slowly began to exit the room. Shiro turning back and covering his mouth with a single finger to hint to Akira not to say anything else and leave Monokuma fuming.

"Akira! You're in on this, aren't you!? You're trying to get one over on me!? There's no damn way!" Monokuma accused, Akira putting her hands in her pockets and leaving the sauna as well, attempting to ignore him.

"Really, Monokuma. You're starting to get on edge. You might need to see about checking your wires. Kiko might've ripped something out." Shiro said, looking back at the bear while he was still in the doorframe leading back to the pool, Monokuma growling.

"I'll figure out your little game here, Kiruma! You won't beat me!" Monokuma raved before vanishing.

"There, I thought he'd never leave…" Shiro said. "I'd better get moving. Everything is going as planned and I've got him shaken, but I don't know what the Mastermind will do in a state of panic."

"I just hope this works, Shiro. It feels like it's our last chance." Akira said, Shiro

"Akira, If I don't make it out alive… find Saya. Make sure she's safe. That's all I really want."

"I'll do my best. I promise I'll find Saya, with you. Got it!?" Akira pumped a fist in determination.

"Of course. I have to save everyone... I can't afford to fail… they need me." Shiro said, leaving the pool room.


	55. Chapter 5: Daily Life 7

Chapter 5: Shadow Self (Daily Life 7)

Akira left the pool room, walking through the campus and seeing the wreckage of Setsuki's rampage. The campus lawn looked to be mostly fine, but she soon came upon the bonfire, looking at the top of it and seeing…

"...A telephone pole?! Setsuki was burning a telephone pole?! Where did she even get a telephone pole?!" Akira asked, utterly flabbergasted by this.

"Hey Akira! I found a chainsaw!" Setsuki shouted cheerfully as she ran up next to her, swinging a revving chainsaw in one hand, startling Akira.

"Wh-what?! Setsuki! Put that down! Stop wavi- WHY DO I HAVE TO TELL YOU TO STOP WAVING A CHAINSAW AT ME!?" Akira yelled, freaked out as Setsuki stopped swinging. "What are you doing?! I thought you would quit when you got arrested! Why do you have a chainsaw?! WHO GAVE YOU A CHAINSAW?! WHY ARE YOU BURNING A TELEPHONE POLE?! HOW?! WHERE DID YOU GET A TELEPHONE POLE?! WHY FIRE!?"

"Reasons!." Setsuki exclaimed, giving the chainsaw another rev. "I'm stickin' it to the man! The bear man! He goin' down!" Setsuki said with a mad gleam in her eye.

"Setsuki, Shiro said you didn't need to keep causing mayhem!" Akira said.

"He told me to keep going until he told me to stop!" Setsuki countered, revving the chainsaw again.

"...Can you put the chainsaw down, please? There's at least 50 reasons I can think of for you to not have a chainsaw!" Akira shouted.

"And here's reason #1!" Monokuma said as he popped up. Setsuki immediately turned to the chainsaw to the bear.

"YA WANT SOME CHAINSAW!?" Setsuki shouted, drawing it closer to Monokuma.

"No, I don't! Turn that off, missy!" Monokuma said, pointing a threatening claw at her. Setsuki tried to ram the chainsaw at him until Akira stepped in and pushed her back.

"Setsuki, stop!" Akira shouted, trying to pull her away.

"You think I won't kill you if you try, Setsuki!? Slapstick only takes you so far!" Monokuma shouted, face turning red. "Now, you got two choices, Chainsaw Charlie. You can either clean up the mess you made of my University or I can stick that chainsaw right through that empty skull of yours!" Monokuma threatened. Setsuki slowly lowered the chainsaw, shutting it off.

"I'm… open to negotiation." Setsuki said, backing away from Monokuma slightly.

"You two! Fix the door! Now!" Monokuma shouted, pointing at the entrance door, which had been knocked off its hinges and split into two.

"Got it! C'mon, Akira! We've got a door to fix!" Setsuki said, grabbing Akira's hand and dragging her off as Setsuki thought. "Uhh.. should we go to Emi's lab?"

"There's a smaller workshop on the third floor. It's just we haven't been in there a while. It should have enough wood to fashion ourselves a door." Akira said, Setsuki nodding and heading up the stairs. The two gathered up tools and supplies to make a door.

The rest of Akira's day was spent seeing the full scope of Setsuki's vandalistic tear of the school and left utterly baffled at everything she had seen. They repaired the broken front doors, put in a new railing on the stairway, and now had to clean up the dining hall as 8 PM passed. "How… how did you get ALL of this bologna on the ceiling?" Akira asked, eyes locked on the dining hall ceiling, which had been covered in a vast grid of bologna slices.

"Mustard. Lots of mustard!" Setsuki said proudly. Akira scratched her head, wondering just how she was going to get the bologna off the ceiling when slices began to peel off from the ceiling. The mustard proved to be an insufficient adhesive. "Mustard is life's natural adhesive, Akira."

"Setsuki, the bologna's coming off! We're gonna get rained with cold cuts!" Akira shouted as the bologna fell from the ceiling. "This is so stupid. Setsuki! What does this have to do with chaos!?"

"Bologna is chaos, Akira! You just don't get it." Setsuki said, pouting. "Maaaan, after we fix up the place I want tacos."

"Hey, Akira. Setsuki. Getting a snack before di-" Naoki asked as he stepped into the kitchen, suddenly struck by a falling bologna. "T-the fuck!? Why is lunch meat falling on me!?" Naoki complained, peeling it off his hat. "Akira, I'm getting mustard on my hat! Do something!"

"I'm working on it! Setsuki, Get me a ladder!" Akira ordered.

"Yeah… about that… I kinda used to the ladder to crash through the skylight and into the pool." Setsuki pointed out.

"So, get it from the pool building!" Akira shouted, bologna landing with a wet smack in her hair. "NOW!"

Setsuki quickly ran off to get the ladder while Akira and Naoki began collecting the fallen bologna, looking out for further meat drops as they tossed the slices into the trash. "Wow, Setsuki really did a number on this dining hall. Haven't seen a mess this bad since Emi's pancake machine went haywire." Naoki said, tracing his fingers along the slice on the floor to find a mustard-free spot. "There was batter everywhere. And the worst part was we didn't even get a single pancake out of it."

"Huh? Oh, right. You remember everything from before. I keep forgetting that." Akira said as she chucked another slice into the barrel, Naoki chuckling a bit.

"You keep forgetting that I remember, huh? Sounds like some sort of Zen riddle." Naoki said with a smile, Akira snickering before dodging another oncoming bologna.

"What was it like here? I mean, I have a rough idea in my head from all those pictures in Emi's lab, but you were there, ya know. You saw how everything went down." Akira wondered, Naoki shrugging.

"Well, not everything. But I did see everything in the Ultimates Class. Anything you're really curious about?" Naoki asked, opening the floor for a sea of questions that had plagued Akira's mind ever since she saw those photos.

"...Were Kenji and Shiro always… what's the word I'm looking for?" Akira thought, rubbing her chin.

"Antagonistic?" Naoki guessed.

"Yeah, let's go with that. They've been at each other throats since day one." Akira said.

"Well, they didn't like each other to start. You know how it is, Shiro's either got his head in a book or up his ass, so he was quick to talk himself up to the rest of us. So people didn't like him much while Kenji was making friends left and right. You, Yukata, me, Haru, Hana, Emi, Miho, Reiko, Wakako, Setsuki… I dunno what it is about Kenji, but he just seems to be the perfect combination of friendly, easygoing and harmless, ya know?"

"Yeah, maybe back then…" Akira said with a sigh.

"They never went to blows, but they would shout at each other a lot of times." Naoki explained.

"So why was there a photo of them actually talking with each other without any trouble?" Akira asked.

"Well, Emi had a hand in that. When we got our labs, Shiro's needed a bookcase and so he offered her 60,000 yen to make him one. Emi agreed, but she wanted to split the money with Kenji and Shiro agreed, hoping to not have to deal with him. Of course, Emi would keep 'forgetting' her tools and leaving them alone in Shiro's lab. And then… they started talking. It was small talk at first, but then they started getting to know each other better. Soon they're suddenly buddies. Sure, Shiro wasn't on speaking terms with Reiko any time soon. But he and Kenji weren't at each other's throats. Shiro would sometimes sit at our table if he couldn't get a table alone, He also seemed to not mind you all that much." Naoki said.

"Yeah, I imagine his respect for me remained the same even after our memories were wiped. Hrm… what about Wakako? What was she like? I saw her audition tape and she seemed so… different from when she was Dahlia.." Akira asked, Naoki tipping up his cap in thought.

"Wakako was smart. Like… smarter than most of us smart, but you only could figure it out if you talked to her because she never held that against anyone. You ever see her school records?" Naoki asked, Akira shaking her head.

"No, just the audition tapes." Akira said.

"She had crazy high marks. Like, it was her, then Shiro, then Yukiji and the rest are kinda fuzzy. But like I said, she didn't really lord it over us. She didn't really talk to any of us for the first few months we were there. Kept to herself until Yukiji talked to her." Naoki said.

"Was Yukiji the first person to talk to her?" Akira asked.

"No, just the first person she actually talked back to. And Yukiji wasn't much of a talker either at that point. You were always around to chat with Yukiji and talked him into finding someone to play chess with. Everyone was either too easy for him to beat, didn't understand the rules or made Yukiji skittish. So, he tried his hand with Wakako the Wallflower as we called her." Naoki said with a chuckle, getting silence in response.

"...No one called her that but you, did they?" Akira said.

"Shut up, I thought it was clever!" Naoki snapped. "Anyway, where was I? Oh, right. Yukiji decided to challenge her to a chess game. I wasn't there for that, but he was more than happy to tell you after the game how it went. I'd never seen the little guy so excited about anything, especially since he almost lost that game. He immediately wanted to play her again. And again. And again. Around this time Wakako started actually talking with us."

"And what about Dahlia Kurotsuki? Where did she come from?" Akira asked.

"Dahlia was a character from a play Wakako was writing. Last I remember, she was some sort of pirate vampire queen, Madame Dahlia Du Coteau De La Sancte III, if I remember right. I could never really follow the stupid thing because Wakako kept rewriting it. Sometimes she'd dress up as Dahlia and go around pretending to be her. I think Yukiji said it was to see if she had gotten the character right. It was kinda Mary Sue-ish to be honest. It was just her but with red eyes, and she was good at everything and everyone liked her for some inexplicable reason. Who writes like that?" Naoki said, Akira shrugging her shoulders.

"Hey, she was just starting out as a writer. No one's good at writing from the start, like the first 3-4 stories you write are gonna be God awful." Akira argued.

"Yeah, I guess that's true… Wakako was a good director for plays, but didn't write one good enough to get one herself. I wish she did." Naoki said, looking at the floor.

"Yeah… hey, Naoki. Do you remember how Miho and I got together…?" Akira asked.

"Oh yeah, I remember that story." Naoki said with a chuckle. "It's kind of funny, you and Miho started dating after a bad date with Kenji."

"...I dated Kenji?" Akira asked, surprised.

"It was around Christmas time, I think it's tradition or something to date on Christmas Eve. So Rio and Haru ended up trying to play matchmaker with everyone so nobody was lonely during Christmas. They were awful at it, Yukiji had to date Reiko, Bam was with Wakako, and Setsuki was stuck with me. Another blind date they set up with you and Kenji. It was a disaster on every level. You two hit it off like a car accident." Naoki explained.

"Wow, that bad?" Akira wondered.

"Kenji thought giving you trading cards was a good first date present. And not even good trading cards. He gave you Yukata's spare cards." Naoki said. "He told me afterwards that it was like dating a sister, it felt wrong."

"Ohhh, that bad. So when did me and Miho get together?" Akira asked.

"Well, you and Kenji left the date early after sitting together eating unlimited breadsticks and not saying anything, apparently sharing the most awkward hug in the history of hugs with the rare quadruple hover hand maneuver. You went to a cafe to drown your sorrows in coffee, meeting up with Miho who had come off an awful date with Shiro." Naoki explained.

"Wait, how do you know this part?" Akira asked, scratching her head.

"You told me, duh." Naoki said.

"Oh, yeah… I just can't get over the fact I don't remember anything since high school…" Akira said.

"Yeah, I know… Still, You never dated a girl before and Miho didn't care who she was dating, as long as it wasn't Shiro and his talk about taxation brackets while she was trying to watch the tag tournament finals. I guess it helped that you two were already good friends. So you two tried for another the next day and it went much better. Though Miho said you were still a huge dork the whole way through. She told me you sort your pens by color." Naoki said, laughing as Akira grumbled.

"I can't remember that, but I can still feel the shame… and stop laughing! You wanna go for a blue and find out it was really black? Do you wanna sign a police report with a purple glitter pen?! I think not, good sir!" Akira shouted, Naoki laughing harder before Akira grabbed a slice of bologna off the floor and smacked him with it.

"Ow." Naoki muttered out with a sigh. "Did you really have to go with the bologna hit? That's low, girl." Naoki said, struggling to not laugh at that joke.

"It really does seem like we were friends now that we're talking like this…" Akira said. "It's just tough to deal with just how we'll never really get any of that back, ya know?" Akira said, reaching up to grab her hat and remembering she didn't have it.

"Yeah, it's weird going into this dining hall and finding it so empty… it just feels like everyone's gone… I wasn't even there for all the crazy stuff you guys went though. And now we're all just waiting on whatever Shiro's up to." Naoki said, grabbing the brim of his hat.

"Yeah… say, Setsuki never came back with that ladder, did she?" Akira asked.

"No, and I haven't heard from Kenji in a while…" Naoki said, getting up from his seat. "You wanna go find them?"

Akira nodded and got up, the two leaving the dining hall and beginning their search. They headed for the pool, running in to find Setsuki lying in the pool, a small cloud of blood surrounding her head. "Oh… Oh god no! Setsuki!" Naoki exclaimed as Akira stared in horror.

"SETSUKI! NO!" Akira cried out.

"Setsuki!" Naoki shouted. "Please answer us! Are you okay!?"

"Uhh...I can explain. A little help here?" Setuski said, slowly lifting her head up.

"Oh, she's alive." Naoki said, relieved as Akira looked up at the clock on the wall, flashing 9PM

"And drowning! Naoki, help me get her out of the pool before it closes!" Akira said, leaping into the pool. She grabbed onto Setsuki, helping her to the surface. Naoki ran over to check on her as Akira climbed out of the pool with Setsuki hanging onto her shoulder, rolling onto her back and groaning in pain as she felt the cuts on her face and hands.

"What happened, Setsuki?" Naoki asked.

"The ladder was stuck against the ceiling, so I climbed up to knock it over, and I fell in the pool. It was still full of glass!" Setsuki explained.

"Maybe you shouldn't have broke the skylight…" Naoki said as Akira went to grab a first-aid kit.

"Look, I was causing mayhem, I didn't think I'd need to clean it up! I thought the University would be burned to the ground! BURN IT DOOOOWWWNNN!" Setsuki shouted, holding her head. Akira soon came back with towels and bandages, drying Setsuki off and wrapping up her cuts.

"Naoki, I know you got other stuff to do, but can you help me patch up Setsuki before someone thinks she's dead?" Akira asked, Naoki nodding.

"Sure thing." he said, bending down to join in as he and Akira wrapped bandages around Setuski's head. The two finally got Setsuki patched up when a familiar sound rung out through the speakers.

 _Ding Dong, Dong Ding_

"Alright, you lunatics! You've all had your fun, but I've got a lot of mess to clean up and it's night time, so get yourselves to bed and don't bother the MonoKleaners!" Monokuma shouted over the monitors. Akira helped Setsuki to her feet.

"C'mon, Setsuki. Let's get out of here. Can you walk?" Akira asked, concerned.

"Yeah, I think so… just maybe gimme a few steps. Get me out of the pool building first." Setsuki said, Akira nodding as the three walked together out of the pool and back to the campus and up the stairs to the dorms. Setsuki waved off Akira as she went to sleep off the cuts she got falling into a pool full of broken glass. They went their separate ways, Akira hitting her bed as soon as she stepped into her room.

She tried to sleep, but her mind was too occupied. Right now, as everyone was returning to the dorms, Shiro was putting his life on the line to find the Mastermind. Find the one who had trapped them all in this game. Who had forced friends to kill each other and then sent them to violent deaths. Who had turned them all against each other even as they tried to stay together. She looked at the wall clock. 10:23. It'd be almost 21 hours before she had to meet back with Shiro…

Akira shut her eyes, trying to force herself to sleep, twisting and turning in her bedsheets to no avail. She opened her eyes and looked back at the clock. 11:17. This kept going, Akira occasionally getting up and pacing the room to try and wear herself down. She looked at the clock again. 11:59. 12:15. 12:22. 12… 12… 12… she finally fell asleep, not even sure what time it was anymore.

That was, until the bell chime woke her up, making her fall out of her bed and land face first on the floor.

"Goooooood MORNING, students~ It's a hap-hap-happy day here at Enoshima University! The birds are drowning, the butterflies are on fire and the sun is careening into the planet! It's gonna be a great day, I think! Hope you all enjoy the end of the world, kiddos!" came the new announcement from Monokuma.

"That… that doesn't even make sense! What kind of announcement is that?!" Akira shouted as she pulled herself off the floor. She got changed and headed down for the dining hall for breakfast. Shiro wasn't there, but Yukiji and Airi were sitting around Setsuki, who was explaining why she showed up covered in cuts.

"KiKi! Over here!" Setsuki exclaimed, waving her over. Akira nodded and sat down with the others."So like I was saying, Akira fished me out of the water at that point."

"She could've drowned and we were getting close to the no-swim time. I had to get her out or she was going to be executed. I get Shiro needed her for a distraction, but did she have to break EVERYTHING?!" Akira asked.

"Bologna alert." Setsuki warned, another piece landing on Akira's head, sending a shiver up her spine.

"We're gonna have to clean that up…" Yukiji pointed out as Akira grumbled and threw the slice on the floor.

"Now there's mustard in my hair. This sucks." Akira said, grabbing napkins to try and wipe the mustard out.

"Yo, Akira. Any sign of Shiro since yesterday?" Setsuki asked, adjusting a bandage on her wrist so she didn't bleed on her breakfast.

"No. He left after I spoke to him. He'll come back, I'll make sure of it." Akira said, a plate of eggs and sausages dropped in front of her.

"Ssssssssssausage!" The MonoKaterer shouted, making Akira jump from being startled. 

"Uh… thanks, I think." Akira said awkwardly, eating her breakfast.

"Did Shiro tell you where he was going?" Airi asked.

"No." Akira said quickly. She wasn't sure Shiro would want anyone to know his plan, so for now she had to keep quiet about things until he got back to her. "He just said he had to complete the final step of his plan."

"Hrm… maybe we should look for him." Airi suggested, Akira shaking her head.

"No, he said he would meet me at the hospital when he succeeded. I think he doesn't want anyone risking things going wrong, so he's keeping things close to the chest." Akira explained, careful not to give too much away herself.

"Hrm… maybe we could join up with you to meet with him?" Airi asked.

"No, he said for only me to meet up with him. I've probably told you guys too much as it is." Akira said.

"How long until you have to meet with him?" Yukiji asked.

"He said to meet at 7 P.M. So I've got another nine hours before then." Akira said.

"You wanna help us clean up the University until then?" Airi offered, taking a drink of orange juice.

"Sure, it'd be better than just sitting around waiting in the hospital." Akira said, cleaning her plate as MonoKatering came to gather it up. Once the others left, they got the ladder back from the pool, Setsuki getting to work wiping off the mustard and bologna on the ceiling, tossing slices for Yukiji to catch in the trash can. Akira and Airi gathered up the bologna that missed the can, mopping up the splatters of mustard.

Once they had finished the kitchen, the four went through the campus, looking through any room they could for stuff to clean up. The library was a mess of smashed potted plants and knocked over bookshelves. While Yukiji and Airi cleaned up the plants, Akira worked meticulously to reorganize all the books, Setsuki scouting ahead to see what the MonoKleaners hadn't fixed themselves.

The clean-up took several hours, covering the whole of the campus. They returned all the supplies Setsuki grabbed from the gym, mopping up the flooded bathrooms on the second floor, and fixing several desks that Setsuki had taken the chainsaw to, sawing many of them in half. By the time they had cleaned the building, Akira looked at the clock. 6:15. Only 45 minutes to go.

"I'd better get going, guys. Gotta be at the hospital. Does… does anyone want to come with?" Akira asked. Shiro said he would be announcing over the intercoms if he was successful, but she's heard nothing. He also said he would be killing the Mastermind, so would Akira know who died? Her head was spinning in thought as she got up and got ready to leave.

"I'll wait with you, Akira." Yukiji said first, Setsuki was the only other person in the room, and answered next.

"Yeah. Let's wait for Shiro!" Setsuki said cheerfully.

"I thought you said Shiro only wanted you there." Airi said, showing a small display of her photographic memory. Or maybe just basic memory since Akira said that only hours ago.

"Well, yeah… but I figure it wouldn't hurt to bring you guys along. Plus I'd probably get bored waiting on my own. I think we need to figure out what he just did, too." Akira explained, Airi nodding.

"True. Alright, I'm in." Airi said, smiling and giving a thumbs up. Akira gave a thumbs up in response before heading for the hospital. The other students followed her to the hospital. Once inside, Akira pulled out her Monopad to check the map, looking for Shiro's icon. Instead she saw Kenji, Haru and Naoki coming up on the path to the hospital.

"Well, looks like everyone's gonna be at the hospital…" Akira said, turning off her Monopad and waving to Kenji as he entered her line of sight. "Hey, Kenji! What brings you here?" she asked.

"I came as soon as I saw you guys at the hospital! Is everyone okay?! Did someone get hurt?! Setsuki, are you alright?!" Kenji exclaimed, eyes filled with worry.

"I'm good, Ken. The cuts sting, but I'm toughin' it out." Setsuki said, giving a thumbs up to reassure him.

"Everything's fine, Kenji. We're waiting for Shiro to show up. He's finishing up the last step of his plan and said to meet at seven." Akira explained.

"He is? Did he tell you to come alone?" Naoki asked.

"He did. I felt like it was fine if other people came with me." Akira answered, grabbing her Monopad to check for Shiro.

"And you accepted? W-why?" Naoki asked, sounding concerned.

"Shiro's done enough for me to trust hi-" Akira began, being cut off by Kenji.

"But he's tricked us before. You can't just ignore him doing that, Akira. That's not safe!" he plead. "I don't want you to end up like Akami."

"...Kenji, I know what Shiro did. I'm not ignoring that he tried to get us all killed. I can never forget that Akami died. But what he's doing now is more important than what he did before. He's been doing everything he can to help us escape, even willing to work with someone who hates him. You can't pretend he hasn't been doing anything." Akira said.

"But I…" Kenji said, looking at the ground briefly. "I just... " He said shaking his head. "Goddamnit." Kenji said, clenching a fist. "I'm just worried, okay? I don't like this."

Akira put a hand on his shoulder. "I know, Kenji. But we have to trust him. He's trusted us and there aren't many of us left. If we don't work together, we're all good as dead." she said, putting her arms around him. "Just, believe in Shiro. Just this once…" Akira said, hearing the sound of cicadas fill the air as Kenji fell silent, pulling away from. Kenji walked to the wall of the hospital and sinking down against it, a hand on his knee.

"I'm waiting here." Kenji said bluntly. Eventually the group slowly wandered, Haru and Setsuki were going back to chatting and making jokes to crack eachother up. Airi sulked in the dark, Kenji didn't move from his spot, Naoki was trying to talk to Yukiji about baseball and failing. And Akira kept her eyes across the campus and at the open double doors of the bunker. Checking her Monopad's clock constantly as minutes passed.

6:30. 6:45. 6:50. 6:55…7:00...

7:05... 7:15... 7:30…

Akira's heart sank. No announcement and no sign of Shiro on the Monopad. She looked to the group, seeing them become restless.

"I forgot. Do we have daylight savings time?" Setsuki asked, hugging her knees as the cold of night began to sink through the intentional rips in her jeans, making her start to shiver.

"No, Japan doesn't have daylight savings…" Naoki replied, adjusting his hat nervously. "It's the same time all year."

"Then… Why is he late?" Setsuki asked Naoki, and the rest of the people waiting with her.

"I don't know…" Akira said, feeling her hands begin to tremble. She had a hard time swallowing all of a sudden as anxiety began to set in. Something happened to him. Something had gone wrong…

"So, should we go find him?" Yukiji asked.

"Should we…? Would that be safe if we looked for him?" Kenji asked in response.

"We have to." Akira said, feeling a fire building inside of her. "We HAVE to." She said, marching to the front of the hospital and turning around to address everyone. "We're forming a search party. Go to my and Airi's lab and grab as many flashlights as you can." she said, getting nods of agreement from the group. They headed for the labs, Kenji not moving at first.

"I don't know about this… this could be a trap…" Kenji said.

"I'm not liking this either, but we have to find him." Akira said, running for the labs. Kenji sighed and got up, following after her.


	56. Chapter 5: Daily Life 8

Chapter 5: Shadow Self (Daily Life 8) 

Akira lead the search and rescue group to her room to grab as many maglites as she could find. She also went to find a pair of handcuffs to latch onto her belt. She used the first for Reiko, which was later used by Dahlia, the second for Kenji and Shiro, and the third for Setsuki… Which means she should have had one left. But the last set of handcuffs on the wall was missing.

"Did… Did someone steal these? Again?" She said with a sigh. "Why does this keep happening? These handcuffs are more dangerous than I thought." She said, looking at Yukiji behind her as he tried to flash the flashlight in his eyes. Suddenly recoilining as he blinded himself.

"These are way brighter than I remember flashlights being…" He said, clicking off the light. Akira sighed and put the flashlight in one of his pockets.

"Use it if you separate from someone. We don't want to go around blinding each other." Akira started. "Also, bring snacks. You never know how long we're gonna be down there, so I suggest bringing a granola bar or some water so you don't get tired." Akira lectured, Yukiji giving a smile as he reached into the pocket of his loose fitting dress shirt.

"KitKats at the ready, yup." He said with a friendly smile. Akira felt herself smile and just gently ruffled the top of his head.

"Is there a way I can put this on my helmet?" Setsuki asked, trying to see if she can duct tape the flashlight to the top of her skate helmet. Kenji walked over and took a look at it.

"I think you can, but it might not be worth the time it takes to do it…" Kenji mentioned. Setsuki humming as she taped it to the side of her head, leaving it off for now despite how stupid it looked.

"Where are we going?" Naoki asked Akira, Akira looking over at him as she grabbed her officer cap and placed it back on her head.

"There's an extra room in the bunker we were in. Supposedly it's in the kitchen that was repurposed into the No Mercy room. We're gonna head down there and figure out where to go from there. " Akira explained to him, getting a quiet nod from him. "Haru, there's a first aid kit in that cabinet on the bottom shelf. Grab it and take it with you, okay?" Akira said, talking over Naoki's shoulder as Haru and Kiko were inspecting the flashlight. Haru nodded, Kiko giving an affirmative bark before the two headed off.

"Alright guys, our destination's the bunker. We're gonna look for an entrance in the kitchen and head through it to the underground section of the school. Hopefully Shiro is somewhere down there. Try not to get too separated from each other, and make sure nobody gets hurt. Got it?" Akira called to the rest of her class, getting quiet nods as they set out for the bunker.

Akira led the group into the bunker, turning on her flashlight as she went to the former No Mercy room, now just a kitchen door with most of the painting and symbols on the frame were now gone. Akira slowly walked up to it, opening it to reveal to everyone else before she went inside. It was a normal kitchen again, with several sinks, a few fridges and a couple of counters to prep food on. In the center of the room was a hatch that was ajar.

Akira shines her flashlight down the hatch, revealing an extremely deep hole and a metal ladder riveted against a wall. "How deep do you think that goes?" Haru asked, crouching beside Akira as Akira slowly reached to grab the first rung of the ladder, slowly sliding down and putting her foot on the first one.

"I guess we gotta climb down it." Yukiji said. "Do you think Monokuma put this in?"

"No. Given what we know of Masato Inoue, it's more likely this was constructed by him as a last resort area in case something or someone got into the bunker." Airi theorized as she climbed after Akira.

"Man. Masato Inoue is a friggin' weirdo. How much money did he have to make a bunker this deep!?" Haru asked, scratching his head.

"Insanity and money are strange friends. People will dump millions of bucks for something they made up in their head, no matter how much reality tells them otherwise." Airi pointed out.

"Is it that common for weirdos to dump millions of dollars into something stupid?" Haru asked, getting onto the ladder himself.

"Some people think the world's a hologram. Trust me, stupid knows no bounds." Airi said as she kept climbing. Yukiji, Setsuki, Naoki and Kenji all followed down the ladder, sinking into the darkness of the hatch.

"Yo… This is legit several hundred feet." Setsuki said, freezing up as she looked down past Akira and couldn't see the bottom. Naoki who was slightly above her just looked down, slightly frustrated.

"Stop reminding me. Can you please keep climbing down so I can get off of this ladder?" Naoki said, Setsuki giving a shaky nod before continuing the long climb.

"This was probably a bunker they used in World War Two." Airi started, climbing down at a steady pace. "Masato probably bought it and converted it instead of having it made. But… This whole under facility might have been excavated afterward." She explained, Akira focusing on not losing the strength in her arms. 

"God… how does the Mastermind put up with this?" Kenji asked. "This is exhausting…"

"The mastermind probably has a better way to get down here…" Airi replied, as Setsuki shrieked.

"Setsuki, what's wrong now!?" Akira asked, Setsuki hanging on by one hand and trying to wipe her hand off on her jeans.

"Blood on the rungs! There's blood on the rungs!" Setsuki shouted, Akira looking at her section of the ladder, and there was blood on the right side of every rung of the ladder.

"Shiro had to climb down this with an injured hand… He probably reopened his wounds…" Akira said with a mixture of concern and disgust. After what felt like an hour of climbing, the students finally dropped down the floor, flashing their lights around the floor to find the path. A railing so dimly lit no one could see anything on either side.

They walked along the railing, some students flashing their lights over the side. "Someone didn't pay their electric bills." Naoki joked, trying to see if he could get his flashlight to shine on some floor. They made their way across the railing, coming to a stop as they were now standing at two different branching rails, that further out branch into two more rails each, totaling four from what they could see.

"Should we split up?" Yukiji asked.

"No. Most people make that mistake in horror movies. It never works." Setsuki argued.

"Right, we can't risk someone falling off the rails or getting attacked from behind. Monokuma's been quiet since Shiro left… too quiet." Akira said.

"Really, Akira? You're seriously going to say that? Is it also a dark and stormy night?" Naoki asked incredulously.

"She's got a point, dude. Monokuma probably would've jumped us at some point, rambling about TV dinners or sumthin' before yelling at us for breaking in here." Haru said.

"Exactly. This isn't a place he opened for us. Monokuma will be pissed when he finds out we're down here." Akira pointed out.

"I haven't even seen Monokuma since the morning announcement. Maybe he's been deactivated." Setsuki said.

"So, we're in the clear to explore?" Kenji asked.

"At least until the Mastermind reactivates him." Akira said, looking over the branching railpath, trying to pick out which path to take. She finally chose to the left branch, going further left with the rest of the students. As they came up on the second branch, Airi stopped to mark the paths as "LL" and "LR" to keep track of where they had been. They soon reached the end of LL, seeing another split in the railway. Airi once again marked each location, "LLL" and "LLR" for this one. They walked down LLL and stopped at a room marked "Equipment."

Akira grabbed the doorknob, the knob turning and the door opening. Inside was a room full of different tools and supplies, looking like Kenji's lab or the equipment room in the upper bunker. "Another room full of junk, huh? How many of these are in this University?" Haru asked.

"This might be the last one we find. Monokuma probably uses this for constructing new trial rooms… and the executions." Airi surmised. The group looked over the equipment room briefly, Akira wanting to be thorough in their search. However, they found nothing that stood out about the room.

"Alright, guys. Let's try the next path." Akira said, leading the others out of the equipment room. They headed down the LLR path, coming up on a large throne in front of a set of sliding doors. "Huh? Is this…?" Akira asked, looking over the throne to find it was locked onto a magnetic track with a lever on the side of the chair.

Without a moment's notice, Setsuki immediately climbed on the chair. "Hey. This the class trial cha-" Setsuki kicked the handle while trying to climb herself over the armrest of the chair, causing it to whirr to life and launch her forward. "S-SHIT!"

"...I can't even find the energy to yell at her at this point." Akira said as the chair went through the sliding door with the hollers of Setsuki fading into the distance. The door quickly shut, Akira walking up to it, hoping it would open only for the doors to remaining shut. "Damn it. I thought it would be like grocery store doors."

Kenji walked up to the door as well. "Hang on, I grabbed a crowbar from the Equipment Room. I can get this sucker open." he said, pushing the curved end into the door crack. Just as he was about to push, Airi grabbed his wrist.

"No. The regulations say we can't go breaking into rooms, remember?" Airi said.

"Well, yeah. But Monokuma's not gonna know. He's hibernating somewhere." Kenji argued, rearing his crowbar and getting it ready for some action.

"Kenji, given that Monokuma's throne leads through those doors, I think it's a safe bet that he's going to find out if someone prys them open." Airi pointed out. "Do you really want to bet your life on an oversight? Kenji, that's pretty damn foolish." She warned, Kenji sighing and pulling the crowbar out.

"Yeah, ya got me there." Kenji said with a shrug. "But I have all this crowbar and nothing to do with it."

"Then put it back. I think you're just gonna make everyone uncomfortable if you walk around with it." Akira said.

"I thought you said not to split up?" Kenji asked.

"It's a room or two away. It's not like you'll be lost for eternity. Besides, Airi marked the path." Akira said. "Just find a place to put it, and come back. I gotta make sure Setsuki didn't get ran over by a runaway chair or something." Akira added, sifting her hands along the wall to see if she can find an alternate doorway. 

"Right, seeya in a bit." Kenji said, walking off, crowbar over a shoulder as he went back down the walkway.

"Why did he bring a crowbar?" Yukiji asked.

"Kenji likes helping. That's his gimmick, y'know? He probably just wanted to help open any stuck doors." Naoki said with a shrug.

"I mean, I guess…" Akira said as she slowly felt her hand slide into a hole. "H-hey. I think I feel something." She said, pulling slightly on a handle as the extremely heavy metal door slowly pulled open with a creak of the hinges echoing on the vast walls of the dark facility. They walked in to see the Class Trial room.

The room was a cold gray color, the walls barren and the monitors around them blank. The only thing familiar about the room was Monokuma's throne, which Setsuki was sitting in and giving curious glances. "Oooh, I wonder what else this chair can do...? Oh! Hey, dudes!" Setsuki said with a wave, hitting a button and causing her chair to spin in a circle, Setsuki making alarm sounds as she spun. Airi walked over and pressed the button again, stopping the chair.

"Stop it." Airi said, turning her eyes back to the barren trial room. "So, this is what the Class Trial room looks like before a trial." Everything was grey, with torn flecks of wallpaper on it.

"Huh… do you think he spends the time we're investigating putting this together?" Yukiji asked.

"I mean he's got all those robot Monokumas. I imagine once they get the idea, it's just a couple of commands." Naoki said with a shrug.

"There doesn't look to be much going on… but wait, wasn't the room behind the chair the air filter room? The one where Naoki was kept?" Akira asked.

"Hrm… given the circular nature of the room, it's possible that Monokuma can spin the room. It would explain why there aren't a bunch of rooms attached to it for each of the executions Monokuma had planned." Airi theorized. "That or the room itself is elevated, with different floors for each of us."

"And this floor would be the pre-trial floor?" Yukiji added.

"Something like that. Doesn't look to be anything here." Airi said. "Setsuki, hit the lever. We're done here." she commanded, Setsuki giving a quick salute.

"Aye-aye-Airi!" she said, pulling back the lever and sending the throne back, the other students running to not get hit by the oncoming chair as the doors shot open. They ran out of the trial room, stopping when Setsuki finally came to a start. "Let's do that again!"

"...How do you stay alive this whole time?" Naoki asked, confused.

"I'm good at not dying." Setsuki said, leaping over the chair. The group headed back to where the left path branched, seeing Kenji standing there waiting.

"Hey guys, anything in the trial room?" Kenji asked, Akira shaking her head.

"No, it's pretty much empty." Akira said, walking down the right path. The railings split off, Airi once again stopping to mark the branches of "LRL" and "LRR" before they headed down LRL. The path lead them to a room marked "Monokuma Control Room." The name of the room gave the group pause before entering.

"So… this is the room where the Mastermind pilots Monokuma?" Kenji asked warily. Akira nodded and gently reached for the door.

"Do you think we'll find them behind it?" Yukiji asked, Akira looking down at the ground.

"No… I'm pretty sure this room will be empty, since we're all here except Shiro." Akira explained, turning the knob and slowly starting to pull the door open. She was blinded by blue and white lights as she did, pulling open to a large wall of monitors, showing each camera in the school. In the center, there was a small staircase leading up to a computer interface of many buttons, the 'Cockpit' of Monokuma.

There were two large indents on each side you could insert your hand into, with pawprints with an R and an L on each one to indicate which paw was which.

"So… This is it, huh?" Akira said, walking forward and looking at the interface, that was until she stepped on something loud and metal, looking down.

"What's this?" Akira asked, stopping short of the interface and grabbing the hatch. She pulled it open and looked down inside. It was a step ladder that led to what appeared to be a bedroom.

"I guess the mastermind slept in here." Airi said, the others climbing down the ladder except for Setsuki and Yukiji. The floor was simple wood, and the walls were painted grey. There was a several large, locked filing cabinets and a desk. Along with that, a closest with the label of food pantry, along with a bathroom. Kiko began sniffing around the room.

"This air's stale in here…" Haru complained, trying to get the smell of dust out of his nose.

"God. This feels weird…" Naoki commented, walking up to the desk and inspecting what was on it. An empty mug of coffee, several pens, and strangely, an outline of a large square of vacant dust that was missing on the desk. "Look, guys. Something's missing from this desk." He commented, Airi walking up and inspecting it as well.

"Perhaps this was where the mastermind placed an envelope, or perhaps a small laptop." she said, looking at the rest of the desk and noticing a bust of Monokuma made of porcelain. Strangely, one of it's paws was chipped, like it had been dropped.

"There's no doubt about it, this room belongs to the mastermind." Airi said, reaching to grab the Monokuma bust when she was suddenly shocked by the gasps coming from behind her shoulder.

"Dun dun dunnnnnnnnn!" Monokuma announced behind Airi's shoulder, sending everyone into a slight panic.

"Y-you! H-how did you-?!" Akira gasped out.

"How Bear you Bear witness to my Bear-droom, where I keep all my BEAAAARS! Grrr!" Monokuma growled, shaking a paw at them. "I'm so mad I can stand on my head!" Monokuma announced with a 'zwoop!' sound as he proceeded to stand on his head.

"Wh-wha…" Naoki asked, baffled.

"You bear-tter be bear-ful with your next words, Airi! It may be your…. Bear-ial! Tee hee hee!" Monokuma said.

"That's not how you laugh." Airi said.

"Wha?" Monokuma asked, still upside-down.

"You heard me. Monokuma doesn't laugh like that." Airi explained, tucking a strand of her hair behind an ear.

"How do -you- know how I laugh? I might be wanting to try new thangs! I'm a big bear and I gotta be doing thangs!" Monokuma argument.

"Yeah but normally you do a 'Puhuhu' or a 'Kya-ha-ha'" Airi explained, though her versions of that laugh were… very monotone and boring. "There hasn't been a single time you've Tee-Heed since we've started." She said, matter of factly.

"...You suck, Airi." Monokuma said, pouting.

"You suck." Airi retorted, lightly kicking the upside-down Monokuma onto its back.

"H-hey! Don't do that! Heeeelp!" Monokuma said, struggling on his back. "I've fallen and I can't get up! Somebody do something!"

"...What the fuck is even happening?" Kenji asked, deeply confused.

"Monokuma appears to not know how to stand up." Airi surmised, her hands behind her back.

"Don't you think I know that!? Get over here and help me up!" Monokuma shouted, flailing his limbs.

"How about no?" Airi responded.

"Fine! Be that way!" Monokuma growled out, there was a short pause. "Hey, there's a big red button here!" He exclaimed, wiggling a bit on his back. "Guys, I think I found the get-up button!" Monokuma said, Airi taking a step back when the bear suddenly exploded into dust in front of them.

"WHAT THE FUCK IS HAPPENING!?" Kenji shouted, Kiko giving off panicked barks.

"How'd you know it would blow up, Airi!" Naoki accused, Airi just giving off a sigh. 

"I figured that would be the worst thing to happen. Kenji's claimed that Monokuma's can blow up before, and they blew up every time Reiko defeated one."

"Yeah, but how did you know that it was going to blow up? Like, it was struggling to get up, that doesn't mean that-"

"Because its controller is an idiot who doesn't know what the buttons do." Airi said, cutting Naoki off.

"I heard that!" Setsuki shouted from above them, Airi looking up the ladder, Setsuki giving her double middle fingers and sticking her tongue out.

"Stop blowing up Monokumas up there, you." Airi said. "You are literally a child, stop it."

"Yeah, and what're you, my babysitter!?" Setsuki shouted.

"Akira, stop Setsuki's rebellious phase. You're our only hope." Airi said, turning to Akira.

"Alright. Setsuki! I'm coming up there!" Akira said, climbing the ladder. Setsuki sighed as Akira climbed up the hatch and gently shoved Setsuki away from the controls, Setsuki dragging her heels the whole time.

"Uhh…. Yukiji did it!" Setsuki said, pointing at Yukiji.

"Hey…" Yukiji said, offended at being made the scaepgoat.

Akira sat down in the mastermind chair as she looked over the various functions of the machine. There were buttons for Monokumas suddenly showing up in various rooms. A button to blow up the one the user is currently using. A little map showing where all the Monokuma's were hidden, several buttons to open and lock doors manually depending on what building is selected. And even buttons to check on each student. "This is… pretty advanced. I didn't even see this at the Tokyo police stations I vacationed at." Akira said, slowly pressing different buttons to flip the Monokuma she was currently using, getting lost in the commands as she carefully tried to analyse what each one did.

"Akira?" Naoki asked, walking over to her and leaning over her shoulder. Akira ignored him, slowly walking a Monokuma down the main hall of the school. "Earth to Akira…"

"Huh." Akira muttered, not paying attention to him.

"Hey, Akira! Rise and shine!" Naoki shouted, Akira snapping out of it as the lights on the dashboard began blinking when Akira let go of it.

"W-wha…?" Akira asked, confused.

"Almost lost you there. Look at the monitors, I just noticed something." Naoki mentioned, pointing at a monitor showing the pool room. Akira squinted a bit, looking at the image of the pool on the HD monitor.

"Like.. look really hard." He said, Akira leaning in even closer than before to try and see what he was pointing out.

"I don't see it. Is there something in the pool room?" Akira asked.

"No! The Screen! Look at the screen! It has blood on it!" Naoki yelled.

"B-blood?" Akira said, looking a bit closer. Each monitor had flecks of blood on it, though the ones closer to the command console had more than the ones farther away from it.

"Yeah, little specks of blood, see?" Naoki said, pointing out the blood to her. "I think something might have happened in here."

"Ah! Then that means… we'll need to move quickly. Come on, guys! Shiro might be in trouble!" Akira called down the ladder. "Now we split up! Everyone, take a lane and check the pathways we haven't used yet!" Akira shouted as she left the Monokuma Control Room. The other students scrambled out of the Mastermind's bedroom. They came to a stop at the point where LRL and LRR met.

"Alright, so how are we splitting up?" Kenji asked.

"I'll take the last path on the left. Airi, Yukiji and Setsuki will be Group One. Group two is Kenji, Naoki and Haru. If you find Shiro, shout for us. Our voices should carry." Akira said, turning toward the final path. "Good luck, you guys."

Akira ran down the railing, flashlight guiding the way. As her legs carried her, her mind feeling like it was slowly being dragged behind her body. She approached a large set of metal double doors, with the sign 'Morgue' overtop. She tried to open the doors, but they wouldn't budge. "Come on! Open up, damn it!" Akira shouted, pounding a fist against the door. "GUYS! I NEED HELP!" she yelled, her voice echoing through the under bunker.

She heard the sound of footsteps pounding against the railings. The rest of her classmates soon rushed up to her. "Akira, wh… what's wrong?!" Kenji asked, catching his breath.

"This door's locked! Do you still have that crowbar?!" Akira asked, still pulling at the door.

"N-no! I put it back like you guys said! I-I can get it back if you want!" Kenji said.

"No, just get everyone else!" Akira shouted, Kenji nodding and running off. Akira kept tugging and tugging at the doors. More and more footsteps echoed throughout at as Kenji gathered up the other students. They were soon all gathered outside the Morgue.

"Sorry for taking so long, Yukiji got lost in a weird prop room!" Setsuki said.

"Just help me open these doors!" Akira shouted.

"You know, I could do this for you and save you a lot of trouble!" Monokuma said, popping up behind everyone.

"Monokuma's here!?" Haru shouted.

"W-we're just looking for Shiro! Don't blow up!" Setsuki pleaded.

"Monokuma! Open this door, goddamn it!" Akira demanded.

"You didn't say the magic word!" Monokuma said in a sing-song voice. 

"Please!" Akira shouted, Monokuma chuckling and snapping his fingers.

"Alaka-zoop! Alakazam! Alaka… uhh… door!" Monokuma said, the doors swinging open, the students rushing into the morgue, shaking off the sudden rush of cold air of the refrigerated room.

Once inside, they all saw it. Shiro's body was stuffed against the corner of the room, his uninjured hand handcuffed to a pole, the other, injured hand was soaked in his own blood on the floor. He had a pillow over his face obscuring his expression. Further down, both of his legs were horribly broken at the knees, one facing nearly backwards.

Shiro was dead.

"By the way, a body has been discovered! Toodaloo! Kyahahahaha~" Monokuma said as he vanished, his deranged cackle echoing through the morgue and into the caverns of the underground facility, the Monokuma suddenly appearing on a portable monitor in the morgue.

Akira's face began to contort as her brain tried to process what she was looking at.

"You know how the rest of this goes. Class trial in a bit! Seeya, nerds!"


	57. Chapter 5: Deadly Life

Chapter 5: Shadow Self (Deadly Life)

The room stood in stunned silence as they took in what information they could. Akira felt herself wanting to cry, but couldn't get herself to do it. Naoki was absolutely horrified at the sight he saw, shivering uncontrollably as Akira turned to a distraught Airi. "So… This is happening, isn't it?" Akira said, her voice sullen.

Airi held a closed fist to her mouth and looked down at the ground. "Yeah… We have to investigate. Who's willing to do it?" She asked Akira, who promptly stepped forward.

"I'm not going to make anyone else do this with me. Investigations are awful, if anyone wants to help, they can." Akira explained, trying to take in the room for the first time. "The only problem is… We don't really know what the room was like before we opened it for the first time. So anything that is out of place is out of our control." Akira continued as Airi slowly looked down at her pocket.

"The monopad's been updated again with Shiro's details, if you want to read them. I guess Monokuma forgot to mention that, but we've been doing this so much I guess he doesn't have to." Airi said, Akira taking out her own monopad to read it.  
 _  
Monokuma File #7  
Shiro Kiruma  
Time of death: ?  
Status of Body:_

 _Both knees have been broken by a large blunt strike. The left wrist has been broken, while the right appears to be missing a few fingers. There is also a fracture on the back of his skull, near the base of his spine. The throat and windpipe has been crushed, his tongue has been bitten entirely through, and his body shows signs of suffocation._

Akira swallowed hard as she slowly went into the room to figure out where to start. As always, she wanted to look at the body. She went and grabbed the pillow obscuring his head, and lifted it away to reveal his horrified expression. Akira felt like she was going to be sick, but powered through it as she finally looked him over.

His arm was handcuffed to a large metal handrail on the edge of the room, and his wrist was broken at a sickening angle that just seemed more unnatural the more she tried to look at it. Where his head hit the back of the wall, a small stain of dried blood was pressed against it and matting his hair.

In his mouth was the most awful thing to look upon. Crumpled up pieces of office paper was stuffed into his mouth crudely, soaked with his own blood and dripping down his lips and chin. The monokuma file said he bit through his own tongue.

Further down, there were no visible injuries on his face, but there was a nearly purple bruise against his throat. Though.. It had an indistinct shape to it, almost like a pressure was placed upon it, but the shape was amorphous and hard to pin down.

Even lower near his torso, yet again, no damage, though his hand with severed fingers was oozing with old blood, both of his index and middle fingers caked with a shade of dark pink. His body was still warm, even in the contrast of the refrigerated room. Though, under his hip, she saw something that caught her attention. It looked like a number, crudely painted in blood.

"Can someone come over here?" Akira asked, getting Airi to wander over beside her and crouch down.

"What's up?" Airi asked, as Akira turned back to Shiro's corpse.

"Help me move him. There's something underneath his body. " Akira said, getting a prompt nod from Airi, she went down and grabbed Shiro by his legs to try and slide him, only to get an unnatural backward bend to his knees.

"H-his knees are both broken." Airi observed, Akira looking down and wrapping her arms around his hips, sliding Shiro to the side to reveal the text below.

 _AIRI 11037  
_

"Shiro wrote this in blood…" Airi said, looking wide eyed at the words. "Why did he write my name?" She asked, Akira furrowed her brow in frustration as she stood back up to get a better look at him.

"I'm not sure, but I think it's important." Akira said, looking back down at the spy. Airi's eyes darting back and forth between the bloodstains as she suddenly looked up at the police cadet.

"Something's wrong with this blood, Akira." Airi observed, Akira wasn't sure what she was talking about, so she got back on one knee just in case she didn't hear her right.

"What's the matter with it?" Akira asked, Airi reaching up and rubbing some of the blood coming from his mouth with her thumb and index finger.

"The blood from his mouth is fresh, but the blood he wrote with, and the blood on the back of his head are both dry." Airi observed, Akira looking back down at AIRI 11037 and realizing that the blood has dried somewhat compared to the blood coming from his mouth.

"Y-you're right…" Akira said, Airi lightly reaching over to find something she can wipe her hand off with.

"We need to keep track of which blood stains are fresh, and which ones are old while we investigate. This room is constantly chilled and dehydrated, so blood dries fast." Airi continued, as she stood back up.

"This is a morgue, right?" Akira asked, turning her head to the back wall and feeling a chill down her spine as 16 drawers, each one listed with a name sat on the back wall. 9 lights were lit, and the others were off. Each one that was lit had its name written on a small card taped to it.

 _E. Nakayama, M. Takahashi, R. Daisuke, W. Nagase, M. Ishii, Y. Watanabe, H. Okamoto, R. Ono, A. Sakiko._ Each one had a lit light on it, The other ones were the remaining alive students, barring Shiro and Naoki Tsukada. Every other student had their occupied lights off.

"I… I really hope there's no evidence in that." Akira said, not wanting to even get near that side of the room for now. She looked on the opposite side near Shiro, seeing a laptop sitting on a desk, something that got Airi's attention instantly.

"This laptop…" Airi said, holding it in her hands. "This was the same laptop I saw when we were in the Dean's office." She explained, looking back to Akira.

"You mean the one we were reaching for when that laughing gas filled the room?" She asked, Airi giving her a succinct nod in agreement. She softly began to look over the laptop, stopping at the underside.

"The battery pack has been removed, so we can't turn it on. That's unusual." She admitted, Akira just sighing a bit and turning back to the door to notice that the underside of the door, where both doors open had more smears of dried blood on it. When Akira turned back around, Airi had set the laptop back on the table and crouched down at Shiro's body yet again.

"What are you doing, Airi?" She asked Airi, who began sliding her hands into Shiro's pockets. "H-he's dead you know. You can't just… pick pocket him!" She complained, but Airi pulled out a brass key from his front lapel pocket, which made her eyes go wide in shock.

"A key? But… Wait a second." Akira stammered out, running over to her and getting back down on one knee. "H-he still had the key!?" She shouted, confused.

"How did they lock the door from the outside with a key…? Did… did shiro lock himself inside?" Airi asked herself, somewhat ignoring Akira as Airi immediately marched out of the room, key in hand.

"Where are you going!? You have to explain stuff, Airi!" Akira shouted, running to the door frame as Airi vanished into the darkness. Akira just sighed and shook her head, looking at everyone else who was watching her.

"Let's… let's keep investigating, ok?" Kenji said softly, Akira getting a nod as she looked behind her to see if she missed any details in the morgue before she moved on.

"Right." Akira said, turning away from him and walking alone to the mastermind room as she heard Monokuma's distinct laugh from behind her.

"Hey! I did you guys a favor and marked off the rooms you don't need for this investigation with an X!" He announced joyously, though the statement just made Akira wrinkle her nose.

"Why?" Akira asked, suspicious of him.

"No reason. I just want this investigation to be snappy, that's all. I don't want you searching all dozen rooms or something and having 8 of them be full o' nothing. You're welcome!" Monokuma said, leaping off the railing and back into the darkness. Akira just sighed, pulling out her Monopad.

The only rooms that were highlighted were now the mastermind's control room, the mastermind's bedroom, and strangely, Emi's lab. Akira decided to do the closest one first for now, and went to the mastermind's room. She looked at the screens yet again, remembering Naoki pointing to the screens to show flecks of blood. But as she turned around to close the door behind her, she noticed three bloody fingerprints on the door handle, dried like almost all the stains in the rest of the crime scene.

Akira sat in the masterminds chair, reaching up to the screen and tracing the specks of blood against her finger. She felt the heat of the monitor slightly radiating off into her hands, as she looked at each camera in the building. One of the rooms was where Shiro's corpse was, with a fisheye lens to reveal the entire room without turning the camera.

"Does this have archival functions…?" Akira asked, finding a pause, fast forward, and rewind button, along with each one of the 32 monitors of the array. Akira checked the number of the camera, 17. And she hit the 17th button, and began to reach for the rewind button when Monokuma stopped her.

"Crafty… Reaaaal crafty there, cop girl. But I can't literally just let you watch the replay of the entire murder." Monokuma chastised, slapping her hand away as she looked at him in annoyance.

"This camera array is part of my crime scene. I think I deserve to be able to review footage." Akira said, before Monokuma's eye began to glow.

"And I think not, missy. You get out of my chair, and get the heck out of my room as soon as possible, got it!? If you hit rewind, I'll send you to hell!" Monokuma warned, getting a resigned sigh from Akira as she slowly got out of the chair.

"Suit yourself." Akira muttered out, before looking back down onto the floor to see if she could find any other evidence.

On the floor was a small black chunk near the mastermind chair. Akira went over to pick it up, rolling it in her fingers until she recognized the material. It was hard, almost made of some kind of porcelain or plaster. For now, she tucked it in her pocket. 

She climbed back down the ladder into the mastermind's bedroom, finding there were no bloodstains on this ladder. She eventually began to search the masterminds bedroom, untucking blankets, pulling them out of their sheets, checking pillowcases… and yet couldn't find anything until she looked back at the desk. She gently traced two fingers on the dusty surface, seeing her fingers leave streaks as they picked up dust.

"This shape looks about the same size of the laptop in the morgue. It must have been taken from here." Akira surmised to herself, looking at the Monokuma statue on the table, and noticing its missing paw. Instinctively, she reached into her pocket, pulling out the black porcelain chunk and realizing it fit it's paw perfectly.

"This broke off…" Akira said, grabbing the Monokuma bust and hefting it in her hand. It wasn't massive, but it was at least a good 10 pounds in her hand. Heavy enough to swing it. She turned to look at the underside of it, seeing flecks of blood similar to the ones she saw on the screens earlier. Feeling like that was about it, she then walked back outside the room, up the ladder, and back out to the group in its entirety.

"Did you find anything, Akira?" Haru asked, gently petting Kiko to ease both of their stress. Akira nodded softly as she looked at everyone else.

"The rest of you can wait at the elevator. I'm gonna go speak to Airi, okay?" Akira announced, getting quiet agreements from the group as Akira ran ahead of them.

She stopped at the supply closet, seeing that Kenji replaced the yellow crowbar he had with him back where he found it. She then turned back to the ladder and climbed it with purpose to catch up with her. Akira climbed back out of the hatch, dusting herself off and running out of the bunker, crossing the campus and went back to the lab building.

Akira checked her Monopad again, seeing Airi in the only place Akira hasn't investigated, Emi's lab. The door was open, and Airi was on her hands and knees on the floor.

"Airi, are you okay!?" Akira called out, as Airi looked back up at her, and gestured her over to a nearby table.

"Y-yeah… I just wanted to check something." Airi said, waiting for Akira to join her side, there were brass chunks on the table, and Airi was slowly fiddling with the shape.

"What are you doing?" Akira asked, but Airi was too focused on her task as she revealed she made a nearly perfect square, with a key shape cut out of it's center. The rest of the brass clippings sitting around the square.

"Do you see what's wrong with this?" Airi asked, Akira leaning over and stroking her lower lip as she thought.

"I don't know, Airi." Akira replied, somewhat stumped by what she meant.

"There's more brass cut than we needed to make the key. Something's up. I'll explain more at the class trial, but I don't want to keep everyone waiting." Airi said, making a quick exit from the room. Akira looked behind her to see Airi leaving, as Akira looked down and slowly reached down to grab a chunk of the metal.

"More material than needed was cut to make the key…" She muttered to herself, as Monokuma announced on the speakers.

"You guys got the jist of it, I think. Hurry your butts up to the elevator platform! I ain't got all day, Akira." Monokuma bickered, getting a sigh out of the police cadet as she rushed out of the building behind Airi, heading back to the door and meeting everyone at the elevator. 

"There she is!" Haru said with a smile. "It took you a few minutes. To be honest, I thought that investigation would be much longer than that." He said, getting a bark of agreement from his dog.

"Yeah… Sorry about powering through that. I just...I didn't want to keep anyone waiting." Akira replied to him, taking a moment to catch her breath as the elevator creaked to life and slowly started to descend.

The lights of the dorm began to fade as it got replaced with a slow strobe of the elevator every few floors. Akira looked over at Kenji, who had a solemn look on his face. "What's up, Kenji. You haven't been talking much." Akira said with concern. Kenji just looked back at her and softly shook his head.

"Akira… I just hope everything works out this time. I'm sick of these class trials, I'm sick of hurting people and not trusting them." Kenji said with a resigned sigh. Akira gently rubbed him on the shoulder and gave him a considerate smile.

"You're a good guy, Kenji. Just… focus on doing the best you can, okay?" She mentioned, getting a soft nod from him.

"Just… promise you'll figure out the truth, no matter how hard it ends up being, alright?" Kenji said with a smile at her. Akira wasn't sure how to reply, but offered a smile in reassurance.

"I always do my best when it comes to helping out my friends, Kenji. I got your back, okay?" She said, Kenji looking at the floor and giving a calm nod.

"Okay." He said, before falling silent.

Someone killed Shiro while he was attempting an escape gambit. Did one of us not want him to escape? Was it the mastermind? Why would someone do something so awful to someone who was trying to seek penance and help everyone? There wasn't even a motive this time… Did Shiro come across something he shouldn't have, or was this a grudge?

The sun will rise on this class trial, and when it sets only the truth will remain in its dusk. 


	58. CLASS TRIAL 5

_**CLASS TRIAL! ALL RISE!**_

 **Monokuma:** I would normally just pass the explanation of how this class trial works, but we got a baby bird on the team. Lil' Naoki needs an explanation on how a class trial works. So here we go!

 **Naoki Tsukada:** Uhh…Are you for real?

 **Monokuma:** Oh I am the realest of the real, baseball kid! Allow me to begin the explanation. You will be debating with other students over the question 'whodunnit'. After debating and presenting your arguments, a vote will be called.

 **Monokuma Cont'd:** If the majority of the class is successful in figuring out the culprit, also known as 'The Blackened' then The Blackened will be punished for their crime! If the majority of students do not vote for the correct student, the remaining students are punished, and the culprit is free to go!

 **Naoki Tsukada:** Punished? What do you mean by punished?

 **Monokuma:** Punishment means death, baby bird! Tweet tweet!

 **Naoki Tsukada:** O-oh god… Really?

 **Kenji Taisei:** Yeah… It's what we've been dealing with the last few class trials.

 **Setsuki Yori:** Well, we've been right every trial so far, thanks to people like Kenji and Akira…

 **Naoki Tsukada:** Holy shit, guys…

 **Haru Yamada:** Yo, Monokuma. I gotta ask you a question.

 **Monokuma:** Yeeeees?

 **Haru Yamada:** I don't wanna incriminate myself, but I guess I'm just curious about something. The fourth motive, you said Shiro was the culprit for the third one and was in need to be punished for his crimes because of an oversight of the class trial rules.

 **Haru Yamada Cont'd:** You said killing Shiro would mean there wouldn't be a class trial. Why are we having one if Shiro is the victim? Wouldn't that mean a Blackened YOU didn't punish finally did and the trial should be skipped?

 **Monokuma:** Funny story, that! That was indeed the fourth motive for killing. But here's the rub.

 **Monokuma Cont'd:** See, that was the motive for the FOURTH murder. And that was the only time that rule applied! When Yukata decided to off Hana in an attempt to kill the remaining students, that motive became forfeit!

 **Monokuma Cont'd:** Remember, the exact wording of what I said was 'If Shiro is the next murder, a class trial won't be held.' He was in fact NOT the next murder after I said this phrase, so that motive is void.

 **Haru Yamada:** So you're one of those 'fine print' jerks, huh!? Because Shiro didn't die in the bunker we're gonna have to do this class trial and kill another one of our friends!?

 **Monokuma:** Yeppers! And I can confirm for a fact the murderer of Shiro is in this very room. And it's your job to help suss them out. So make yourself useful, big guy!

 **Haru Yamada:** Yeah, screw you too!

 **Naoki Tsukada:** So… how do we do this? 

**Kenji Taisei:** Well, we'd usually start by figuring out how the victim died. Usually how we found them and whatever damage was found on their body.

 **Yukiji Chimon:** The Monokuma File has a lot of injuries listed. It's hard to really sort all this out.

 **Airi Kudo:** Well, we can rule out what it says about the right hand missing fingers as that was a previous injury unrelated to the murder.

 **Setsuki Yori:** Yeah, kinda weird Monokuma even bothered to put that on the file. It doesn't have anything to do with the trial.

 **Monokuma:** The Monokuma File lists ALL his injuries! If I left out anything then you guys would be like 'wah wah wah, Monokuma is withholding information! Wah wah this trial isn't valid!'

 **Setsuki Yori:** Uhhh… What?

 **Monokuma:** Sound familiar!? That's you guys! That's what you sound like!

 **Airi Kudo:** Setsuki, don't give him openings. We need to focus here.

 **Setsuki Yori:** Uh… right! So-

 **Monokuma:** And did I mention I'm really mad you guys decided to trash my beautiful university!? I worked real hard on it, and Setsuki decides to turn into a pigeon and crap all over it! I could lose Deanship over this!

 **Akira Kazue:** Don't interrupt! Akira Kazue Regulation # … The new one. I've lost track. "No Monokuma interruptions during the Class Trials!"

 **Monokuma:** You can't go around making new rules! You ain't the boss of me!

 **Akira Kazue** : Well life isn't fair! You want us to find the culprit?! Then shut your piehole and let us talk!

 **Yukiji Chimon:** Pie hole? 

**Airi Kudo:** The thing is, this screams of the mastermind doing it.

 **Monokuma:** What!?

 **Airi Kudo:** I'm not trying to sling baseless accusations, but you can't ignore the circumstances. A murder of a key player, who said his plan was to kill the mastermind.

 **Airi Kudo Cont'd:** The murder happened in, or at least near the mastermind room? How is that not suspicious?

 **Akira Kazue:** I wouldn't say that right away, Airi. It could have been someone else.

 **Airi Kudo:** No, here's the thing. I couldn't think of it being anyone else. I know I don't usually make accusations, since most of you don't trust me much… but who knew where Shiro was going?

 **Setsuki Yori:** Oh… Fuck. Actually, that is a good question. Who did Shiro tell where he was going?

 _(Debate Starts)  
_  
 **Airi Kudo:** He never told me where he was going. Did he tell anyone else where he was going?

 **Airi Kudo Cont'd:** Did anyone know he was going to the bunker? The only person who knew where he was would have to be the one Shiro was planning against.

 **Naoki Tsukada:** He didn't tell me anything. He didn't like me much.

 **Haru Yamada:** He only told me to be a distraction, dude.

 **Setsuki Yori:** Saaaame. He just wanted me to break stuff.

 **Akira Kazue:** With a chainsaw?!

 **Kenji Taisei:** Shiro only spoke to me once. He never told me where he was going, he told me to get him in Emi's lab.

 **Yukiji Chimon:** Uhm… I feel bad. He never asked me to do anything…

 **Setsuki Yori:** Great, it's a buncha he said-she said stuff! This is no help at all.

 **Kenji Taisei:** So, if he didn't tell anyone where he was going…

 **Akira Kazue: No, that's wrong!**

 **Akira Kazue Cont'd:** Shiro did tell someone where he was going. He told me. I was trying to get Setsuki under control when Shiro pulled me away.

 **Airi Kudo:** So, Shiro pulled you away from Setsuki after you tried to quell her outburst? Do you have any proof of that?

 **Akira Kazue:** Well, he and I went to the sauna to talk about it.

 **Kenji Taisei:** Whoa, you did what?!

 **Akira Kazue:** Sh-shut up, Kenji! There's no cameras in there and Monokuma won't go in there!

 **Monokuma:** Curse my fear of the naked form!

 **Naoki Tsukada:** But… you're naked all the time.

 **Setsuki Yori:** I didn't think Monokuma's supposed to be naked! Is he?

 **Naoki Tsukada:** I dunno, looking at his outie belly button pisses me off.

 **Monokuma:** That and heat tends to mess up my circuitry, I've had Monopads break in saunas before.

 **Akira Kazue:** I-I wasn't naked! Shiro wore shorts… He was built like a popsicle, why would I wanna be naked around him?

 **Haru Yamada:** Harsh.

 **Akira Kazue:** All of you stop judging me!

 **Yukiji Chimon:** No one's judging you, Akira.

 **Akira Kazue:** You're all judging me with your… judgy eyes!

 **Airi Kudo:** And you're the only one Shiro spoke to? Doesn't that break his rule about always meeting with two people?

 **Akira Kazue:** Huh? Ah, right… well, maybe. But I can prove Shiro came to meet me.

 **Akira Kazue Cont'd:** Setsuki can vouch for me. She was in my cell at the time.

 **Setsuki Yori:** Oh yeah, that's right. Shiro was there to bail me out, and he told Akira to meet him in the sauna!

 **Airi Kudo:** I see. Alright, so that checks out.

 **Yukiji Chimon:** Okay, so where were we going with this?

 **Airi Kudo:** If we can figure out who wasn't aware where Shiro went, we can eliminate them as suspects, and figuring out what information was exchanged in these meetings.

 **Airi Kudo Cont'd:** The problem is, one of our only witnesses to these meetings was the victim, Shiro. The only chance we got, is for the other person at the meetings to vouch for us.

 **Airi Kudo Cont'd:** It comes with a downside. If you were in a meeting with Shiro and the culprit, and the culprit lied about your actions and incriminates you, you have no way to prove them wrong because you would need Shiro to corroborate, and he's dead. Thus most of our alibis are worthless.

 **Kenji Taisei:** So, we'd have to explain what Shiro told us to do, right?

 **Airi Kudo:** Exactly. This is about who knew what, and when did they learn it.

 **Akira Kazue:** So, who did Shiro talk to, and what order did he talk to them?

 **Yukiji Chimon:** Well… If he met Akira in the sauna before he left and got killed, I guess Akira's meeting with him would be the last one.

 **Haru Yamada:** Right, so who did he see before that?

 **Setsuki Yori:** I think it was us, dude. That's when Shiro came to us and told us to start breaking stuff.

 **Haru Yamada:** Yeah, and he said he needed Kenji… so I think maybe he talked to Kenji, then Akira.

 **Airi Kudo:** When did you two get your part of the plan?

 **Setsuki Yori:** I think Shiro talked to me first. It was the day after the last class trial. He went to talk to me and Akira.

 **Yukiji Chimon:** I remember Shiro and Haru coming over to my lab to talk. He wanted me there to act as a confidant for his orders to Haru. He wanted Kiko to attack Monokuma when he gave the word.

 **Monokuma:** Ha! I knew it! I knew Kiko wouldn't just start randomly chewing my head!

 **Kiko:** Grrrr.

 **Monokuma:** Aww, Kiko! I thought we were fwiends?!

 **Haru Yamada:** You hated Kiko! You threatened to punt her across the whole campus!

 **Monokuma:** She was biting off my ear! Punts are justified!

 **Haru Yamada:** My dog is not a football! Go punt a baby or sumthin.

 **Naoki Tsukada:** Woah woah woah, we're punting babies now? W-why!?

 **Akira Kazue:** I mean, there was that one story Miho told me…

 **Monokuma:** There ain't no rule that says a dog can't be a football!

 **Airi Kudo:** Children, all of you…

 **Setsuki Yori:** I think there are several rules that keep a dog from being used as a football!

 **Airi Kudo:** Setsuki! What did I say about giving him... Oh fuck it. I don't care anymore.

 **Monokuma:** That's the spirit!

 **Akira Kazue:** ...Right, so Shiro talked to me and Setsuki, Haru and Yukiji, met up with Kenji, set Haru and Setsuki on the school and then had his last talk with me.

 **Kenji Taisei:** That sounds right, but there's a lot of gaps in there. That was over two days. We know why he talked to Haru and Yukiji, what did he need you and Setsuki for?

 **Akira Kazue:** So Setsuki knew when to be a distraction. How about you, Kenji?

 **Kenji Taisei:** He wanted me and Airi around to help him make a key.

 **Airi Kudo:** Specifically, he wanted a key modeled after the bunker's Joker Key.

 **Yukiji Chimon:** The Joker Key? He still had it?

 **Airi Kudo:** He somehow found a way to hold onto it. I'm not sure how.

 **Akira Kazue:** Remember when he fainted after the last class trial, just after we freed Naoki? He meant to do that.

 **Kenji Taisei:** He passed out on purpose?

 **Akira Kazue:** He figured Monokuma wasn't going to remember to grab the key off his body if he didn't see it, and if treating Shiro was now an urgency.

 **Akira Kazue Cont'd:** He had the key traced and then buried it.

 **Airi Kudo:** Right, I had traced the key because Shiro's dominant hand wasn't able to. I also measured the dimensions of the key, and inspected the teeth of the key through a microscope.

 **Setsuki Yori:** You did all that? How did you make a key!? There's key making thingies in the school!?

 **Kenji Taisei:** We went to Emi's lab. That's why he brought me in. Emi's lab had a jigsaw, and a few kinds of metal we could use to make a replica key based on Airi's dimensions.

 **Airi Kudo:** After we cut it, we filed the key to shape, and it worked as a replica of the Joker Key. It's not a perfect fit, but it's close enough to fool most doors.

 **Akira Kazue:** I guess that's why Shiro told me he thought the Joker key was a copy of the Monokey, they did the same things and he wanted a copy of it.

 **Monokuma:** Wait, wait wait! Shiro _was_ hiding something from me! That no good scheming sunova-

 **Akira Kazue:** Why would we tell you our plan, Monokuma? We were doing it to defeat you! We wouldn't just go ''Oh and Monokuma, look out, we're gonna getcha! It'll be super duper! Ohoho!"

 **Akira Kazue Cont'd:** What are we, stupid? Shiro lied to you about his plan so it'd work!

 **Monokuma:** Yes. You are. You are all the stupid. And your plan didn't work! Ha!

 **Monokuma Cont'd:** Gotcha there! Ahahaha!

 **Haru Yamada:** I feel like Monokuma wanted that to be more dramatic than it really turned out.

 **Kenji Taisei:** What did Shiro tell Monokuma that was different from the real plan?

 **Akira Kazue:** Well, all Monokuma knew about was the buried key. He thought Shiro buried the key to retrieve it later and use it to sneak up on him.

 **Akira Kazue Cont'd:** In reality, Shiro wanted Monokuma to find it, and not even think about the idea that Shiro manufactured a key.

 **Monokuma:** I have 180 different cameras on the school, countless sensors, and microphones everywhere! How were you going to avoid me!

 **Airi Kudo:** We've scouted areas around the school that were not well surveilled. Shiro would hold random, impromptu meetings that we would never speak about so if you didn't hear one part of the plan, you would be out of the loop.

 **Airi Kudo Cont'd:** We would never use each meeting spot again after the meeting concluded, so even if you found it, you would still not have enough information.

 **Kenji Taisei:** We even blocked the camera in Emi's room, and turned on multiple saws to drown the room in noise. The only way for you to figure out what was going on was to switch to a Monokuma in the lab, and investigate there yourself.

 **Airi Kudo:** But you didn't because Shiro told Setsuki and Haru to cause chaos that you would be stuck dealing with. And while you may have been able to scan back on the cameras to see where we were going, by the time you did that, it wouldn't have mattered.

 **Akira Kazue:** Because by the time you got back to your mastermind room to check the cameras, Shiro would have infiltrated the bunker and hide out in the room to attack you.

 **Akira Kazue Cont'd:** Shiro even learned how to avoid triggering the sensors on your hidden Monokumas, the ones that update each student location on the Monopad to further elude you finding him in person.

 **Naoki Tsukada:** Holy crap, that's a lot to remember. Shiro had a really good plan.

 **Monokuma:** All that planning, and you still failed!

 **Akira Kazue:** And I guess I want to figure out why it failed…

 **Monokuma:** Well, let's start with the part where Shiro, ya know… DIED?! He got got! He took the long road to dead-town! He kicked the bucket so hard he broke his foot!

 **Setsuki Yori:** Holy crap we get it! Stop reminding us he's dead!

 **Monokuma:** It's the Class Trial you're in, nimrod!

 **Airi Kudo:** Children, behave.

 **Naoki Tsukada:** Well.. I guess the first question I have is the murder weapon.

 **Monokuma:** Good point, Naoki. I'd hug you if that wouldn't be weird. Well guys, question one is presented!

 **Naoki Tsukada:** Don't hug me, please.

 **Monokuma:** Question numero uno! HOW'D HE DEAD!?

 **Setsuki Yori:** Why does it feel like the more class trials we have the more Monokuma doesn't want to be here and doesn't try?

 **Akira Kazue:** All his words have become a monotone drone in my head from how much I'm tuning him out.

 **Kenji Taisei:** Same.

 **Airi Kudo:** Yep.

 **Yukiji Chimon:** Uh-huh. 

**Setsuki Yori:** I envy you guys in your Monokuma ignoring skills.

 **Akira Kazue:** Okay, back to the question of the murder weapon… It would have to be something the killer could have nearby...

( _Akira put a hand to her chin in thought. Thinking of everything she saw in the investigation_ )

 **Akira Kazue: I got it!**

 **Akira Kazue:** It might have been the Monokuma bust we found in the mastermind's bedroom. It had damage on it, and a bloodstain on the bottom like it hit someone. 

**Akira Kazue Cont'd:** I think that may be the wound on the back of his head.

 **Airi Kudo:** That would match up with the blow to the back of his head, but would that have killed him? There were several causes of death on the Monokuma File.

 **Setsuki Yori:** Yeah, we've still got the broken knees, the busted wrist and what happened on his neck, right?

 **Akira Kazue:** Yeah… I think a lot more happened to him than just that, but it gives us an idea of what he was hit with.

 **Setsuki Yori:** And I wanna know what's with the pillow, too…

 **Yukiji Chimon:** So uhh.. Who have we ruled out from doing this?

 **Airi Kudo:** No one, but we've sort of established an order of difficulty and believability for each student based on how much they knew of the crime.

 **Airi Kudo Cont'd:** The ones with the least believability are as follows. Yukiji and Naoki knew the least about this plan, either one just attending a meeting with Shiro where he assigned a job to someone else, or was never met with at all. They knew little to nothing about this murder.

 **Haru Yamada:** That and Yukiji's not really much for killing. No offense, man… You're not even the planning type.

 **Yukiji Chimon:** None taken. I mean, I plan for chess… But that's about it. It's just a game.

 **Airi Kudo:** Setsuki and Haru are the next step up. They knew Shiro was going to do something, but they were a few degrees of separation from what Shiro was doing, so their involvement was tangential at best.

 **Setsuki Yori:** Mhm. And I was too injured at that point to attack.

 **Kenji Taisei:** I was wondering why you were covered in cuts.

 **Setsuki Yori:** Don't fuck with ladders, dude.

 **Akira Kazue:** Uhh… She fell off a ladder into a pool full of glass. It's a long story.

 **Kenji Taisei:** Isn't Setsuki being the only one injured suspicious?

 **Airi Kudo:** This being Setsuki, the one who glued bologna to the ceiling with mustard last night… No, her getting hurt doing something stupid isn't suspicious.

 **Setsuki Yori:** I don't know whether to thank you or tell you to fuck off.

 **Airi Kudo:** As I was saying... As we get to the students who knew more about this murder, we pivot people just randomly encountering Shiro entering the bunker, and people who were more aware with what he was doing.

 **Airi Kudo Cont'd:** Kenji and I are higher up on the list. We knew Shiro was in need of a copy of the Monokey, and we knew Shiro's plan was to kill the mastermind in the control room. I don't want to put suspicion on myself by saying I'm much higher on the probability scale to kill Shiro, but I'm calling the spade a spade.

 **Airi Kudo Cont'd:** And the person who knew the most, and has the highest probability of being our suspect is Akira. She met with Shiro the most, and he confirmed with her where he was going. She knew when he was going to leave, and she knew he had the key if he explained every aspect of his plan.

 **Yukiji Chimon:** Are… are you saying Akira's the culprit?

 **Airi Kudo:** I'm not saying Akira is the culprit, I'm saying she has a very high probability of being one. Probability and actual fact are two separate things.

 **Kenji Taisei:** So you're saying the three most likely people who killed Shiro would be you, me, and Akira?

 **Airi Kudo:** Correct, unless this is a murder the mastermind committed to stop Shiro from finishing his plan.

 **Akira Kazue:** That's not a good spread for any of us… And I really don't like being a suspect.

 **Airi Kudo:** Then prove you aren't one, and I'll drop the idea.

 **Akira Kazue:** I'm working on it, okay! Thinking takes a while.

 **Setsuki Yori:** Hey Airi, what if this turns out to be another really complex suicide like Yukata's death was…?

 **Airi Kudo:** I doubt it. This one would take a lot of work. That, and it's difficult to suffocate yourself.

 **Naoki Tsukada:** ...Do you know how hard it is to suffocate yourself?

 **Airi Kudo:** Well, think about it. If you wrung yourself in your hands to choke yourself, what would happen if you passed out?

 **Naoki Tsukada:** Uhhh…

 **Airi Kudo:** If you passed out strangling yourself, you stop strangling yourself, obviously. Someone strangled Shiro either before, or after hitting him in the head with a bust of Monokuma.

 **Haru Yamada:** I was thinkin'... Remember Shiro tried to hang himself at the bunker? Maybe the bruise is from the belt on his neck.

 **Akira Kazue:** That… actually makes some sense. He could have a bruise on his neck from the belt. But I don't remember seeing a bruise on his neck the last few days.

 **Naoki Tsukada:** I didn't remember seeing one either. But, to be fair.. I didn't have a chance to look.

 **Setsuki Yori:** I didn't see one.

 **Haru Yamada:** I don't remember stuff well unless I'm told to remember it, or if someone pointed it out. I was wondering if I hallucinated that or something!

 **Kenji Taisei:** I actually remembered he did have a bruise on his neck… Maybe you guys just had a lapse of memory. Don't worry about it, Haru.

 **Airi Kudo:** I guess we'll stick to the blow to the head being the cause of death for now. If there's another reason why his neck had bruises on it, they'll need to come up when we think of it. Otherwise, they're irrelevant.

 **Akira Kazue:** Is it really okay to discard evidence like that?

 **Airi Kudo:** I said nothing about discarding the evidence, I'm just saying if we can't fit that puzzle piece, maybe we don't need to use it. Don't laser focus on something you want to be true, you'll end up ignoring everything else.

 **Yukiji Chimon:** Doesn't that happen every class trial?

 **Airi Kudo:** I'm trying to be an optimist for once.

 **Akira Kazue:** The only problem I'm having is only you and Kenji helped make the key. I wouldn't know how either of you made it, so I couldn't copy it or anything.

 **Kenji Taisei:** That, and there being only one key. And.. the fact it happened to be in Shiro's pocket.

 **Airi Kudo:** …

 **Akira Kazue:** I think that's the thing that's really bugging me. Wasn't Shiro in a locked room? How do you kill someone if they're in a locked room?

 **Airi Kudo:** Typically most locked room mysteries have a few solutions. Either the murder happened and the culprit used something to lock the door. Or perhaps they killed them from another room. Yet another option was he was killed in a different room, then moved.

 **Akira Kazue:** And I guess we should pick out which one is most convenient to the actual crime scene. Shiro's body was in the very back corner of the room. Opposite of the door, and on the other side from the uhm… morgue part of the morgue.

 **Kenji Taisei:** Did the room have a vent like the locker room Reiko used to escape?

 **Akira Kazue:** I'm… fairly certain there wasn't a vent. The room was refrigerated, a vent would cause the cold room to mix hot air. The only way in is through the double doors at the front.

 **Haru Yamada:** What if there were a secret entrance in one of the morgue drawers?

 **Monokuma:** I made sure you guys have the evidence needed to piece this together. I would have let you know if there was a secret entrance through one of the human storage drawers.

 **Yukiji Chimon:** Wow, Monokuma did something helpful for once.

 **Monokuma:** For once? I'm always helpful, Yukiji! You dork.

 **Yukiji Chimon:** Hey…

 **Monokuma:** So yeah, the killer didn't use a weird morgue drawer. They used the doors, like a normal, door using human.

 **Naoki Tsukada:** So, the killer used the door, but Shiro has the key. I think I got an idea, Akira.

 **Akira Kazue:** Yeah?

 **Naoki Tsukada:** Shiro had to have opened the door, the killer could attack him without using the key, then lock the door behind them when they closed it.

 **Kenji Taisei:** That would be what I went with. Good job, Airi.

 **Akira Kazue:** I think Airi has a good explanation, but… I'm not sure if that's exactly what happened.

 **Yukiji Chimon:** How so?

 **Akira Kazue:** I just don't believe Shiro was killed in that room! There's something off. I just can't put my finger on what just yet. There's a piece of this puzzle missing…

 **Airi Kudo:** Occam's Razor, Akira. If someone was going to do this in the easiest possible way, ambushing Shiro in the morgue would be the way to do it.

 **Haru Yamada:** Yeah, Akira. You're overthinkin' stuff. Naoki's making a lot of sense!

 **Setsuki Yori:** But if what if Naoki's wrong? Just because something makes sense doesn't automatically make it right. I wish it did, but these class trials are always stupidly overcomplicated.

 **Akira Kazue:** Yeah… I would disagree with that, but Setsuki's right. Usually the killer tries to muddy their tracks more than 'they just followed Shiro'

 **Akira Kazue Cont'd:** Then we would also need an explanation for why he was in the morgue, and not some other room like the mastermind's bedroom, or the control room.

 **Naoki Tsukada:** So you're gonna disagree because you think 'it's a class trial, so it has to be complicated for some reason?' That's.. kind of dumb, isn't it?

 **Kenji Taisei:** Naoki, we've had to prove that a sandwich killed someone.

 **Yukiji Chimon:** Please don't remind me someone died from eating a sandwich.

 **Kenji Taisei:** Going with the most obvious answer seems kind of close-minded when we've done four of these and nothing was as it seemed.

 **Airi Kudo:** What about Reiko killing Miho? That was straightforward, wasn't it?

 **Kenji Taisei:** Yeah, but the same could be argued for Reiko killing Bam in the theater. Everything was made to make it seem obvious that Reiko did it because that's what Wakako wanted.

 **Akira Kazue:** Kenji's right. We can't just go with what logic dictates is the sensible option, Occam's Razor or not. There's something we're missing here that isn't obvious.

 **Naoki Tsukada:** Alright then. Monokuma, start the.. Debate thing. With the music.

 **Monokuma:** I don't call it a 'debate thing' you plebeian. It has a name you know. Hello? Nonstop Debate? Just start arguing and all the other stuff starts up.

 **Naoki Tsukada:** Look, we want to debate this. So make it happen!

 **Monokuma:** Fine, fine! Jeez, you're pushy… Start the debate if you want it so bad.

 _(Debate Starts begrudgingly)_

 **Naoki Tsukada:** Alright, I can do this. A possible way Shiro could have been killed, while still having a key can make perfect sense

 **Naoki Tsukada Cont'd:** Shiro went down the ladder to the railway, and took the laptop with him from the Monokuma Control Room, to the morgue.

 **Setsuki Yori:** Why would Shiro go to the morgue?

 **Naoki Tsukada:** Safety, most likely. He planned to ambush the mastermind, but probably wanted to find a place to inspect the contents of the laptop before he could continue his plan.

 **Kenji Taisei:** So, he goes to the morgue?

 **Naoki Tsukada:** It's the closest room to the control room. The mastermind was tricked by him, so he wouldn't be able to find him immediately.

 **Airi Kudo:** I mean, it's not the first place I'd look if I were the mastermind…

 **Naoki Tsukada:** Shiro could have accidentally left the door unlocked when he opened it and retrieved the key. That would be where our culprit saw him.

 **Naoki Tsukada:** Then you simply strike him over the head with the monokuma bust, he's dead and you can manipulate his body however you want.

 **Akira Kazue:** …

 **Airi Kudo:** As you remember, I explained that the blood in the room was mostly dry? That would explain itself if Shiro died well before we found him.

 **Kenji Taisei:** What about the blood coming from his mouth?

 **Naoki Tsukada:** Ya cut him, The blood in his body is still fresh. You can lock most doors from the inside, so the killer could lock the door while closing it behind him.

 **Naoki Tsukada Cont'd:** See! It makes sense. Shiro died in the morgue!

 **Akira Kazue: No, That's wrong.**

 _(Debate Stops)_ **  
**

 **Naoki Tsukada:** D-did I say something weird? You seem kinda angry. **  
**  
 **Akira Kazue:** No, I always do that. Nothing personal, I guess. It's just kind of how you end a debate.

 **Setsuki Yori:** Catchphrase!

 **Akira Kazue:** No, it's not a catchph-

 **Monokuma:** Catchphrase!

 **Akira Kazue:** It's not a catchphrase!

 **Kenji Taisei:** So uhh… How's he wrong, Akira?

 **Akira Kazue:** While I was investigating the morgue, I noticed blood swipes along the floor that long dried along the frames of the door. Shiro's jacket was stained with blood, and that could only mean he was dragged through his own blood and into the morgue.

 **Naoki Tsukada:** Then where the heck was he murdered?

 **Akira Kazue:** Where he was murdered…

 **Akira Kazue: That's it!**

 **Akira Kazue:** The control room. The bloodstains on the screen array are almost like cast off stains!

 **Naoki Tsukada:** Cast off stains?

 **Airi Kudo:** Bloodstains not from hitting them, but pulling the weapon away from the strike. Most likely, the culprit entered the same room, Shiro ran, and the culprit grabbed the weapon to hit him in the head as he reached for the door.

 **Akira Kazue:** You can tell Shiro was hit while he was fleeing? How?

 **Airi Kudo:** Here's your proof. There's blood on the door handle in the shape of a few fingers. Shiro's hand wound reopened as he climbed down the ladder earlier, coating the right side in his blood.

 **Airi Kudo Cont'd:** Anything he'd grab with his dominant hand would have bloody fingerprints on it. Shiro opened the door first with his left hand when he entered the Monokuma Control room, to not alert him in a measured attempt to remain hidden 

**Airi Kudo Cont'd:** But when he was surprised with the culprit seeing them, he tried to hurry out. Shiro grabbed instinctually with his right hand instead. The culprit then grabbed the Monokuma bust, and clobbered him on the back of his head.

 **Naoki Tsukada:** Holy shit, she's smart.

 **Kenji Taisei:** I really don't want her to be the mastermind. We'd be screwed if she was.

 **Akira Kazue:** So the murder was in the mastermind room, huh?

 **Airi Kudo:** Yeah. There's even more proof that this is the case, and you most likely know what it is.

 **Akira Kazue:** More evidence that the murder was in the control room…

 **Akira Kazue: I've got it!**

 **Akira Kazue Cont'd:** You're talking about the chipped paw from the Monokuma bust, right?

 **Airi Kudo:** Correct. The strike wound was with the base of the Monokuma statue, but the culprit most likely dropped it on the floor after the hit, almost like they were startled it worked. The bear landed on its side, causing its paw to chip off like that.

 **Naoki Tsukada:** Uhh… How did you know they were startled?

 **Airi Kudo:** If the chip came from the initial impact, it would chip from the base. If it were held like a hammer, with the blunt base facing toward Shiro, it would land on its side and chip one of its outstretched paws if they immediately dropped it. This implies they suddenly released it, instead of placing it back where they found it.

 **Akira Kazue:** Then they put the rest of the bust in the mastermind's bedroom?

 **Airi Kudo:** We can assume it was the culprit, and not Shiro who initially grabbed the Monokuma bust, and the culprit moved it to the bedroom afterward.

 **Haru Yamada:** Why wouldn't Shiro have used the Monokuma bust?

 **Airi Kudo:** He was most likely at the screen array where you can take control of Monokuma when the door opened. The culprit would be able to grab the bust before Shiro could take it. Then, when Shiro tried to flee, the culprit would strike him as he passed.

 **Setsuki Yori:** Damn, that's cold…

 **Airi Kudo:** And the Monokuma bust must have been in the control room, because those bloodstains Shiro had on the ladders he used were missing on the ladder to the mastermind's bedroom.

 **Akira Kazue:** We're explaining a lot of what, but I don't know if it's going to help us find a who, Airi.

 **Airi Kudo:** We need to figure out how to figure out which one of us couldn't have done it, of the three most likely culprits of Kenji, Akira and I.

 **Akira Kazue:** And how the culprit got Shiro into the morgue without his key.

 **Kenji Taisei:** Maybe they used the key, then put it back in Shiro's pocket when they left the room?

 **Monokuma:** I feel like this is getting circular. I didn't wanna give hints, but you've misunderstood something about my morgue door!

 **Yukiji Chimon:** Huh? What's that?

 **Monokuma:** Akira didn't properly research this because she was pressed for time. But the door won't lock from the inside!

 **Kenji Taisei:** Wait, it doesn't!?

 **Monokuma:** Yep! The keyhole's only on the outside. You can't lock the door, take out the key and close it. Nor can you lock the lock from the outside, keep the door open and close it after putting the key back in the room!

 **Naoki Tsukada:** I don't get why you can't do the second one.

 **Monokuma:** The lock wouldn't be locked as soon as you remove the key with the door open! Then you would be out of the room with the door unlocked! You'd have the key in your hand!

 **Akira Kazue:** Why didn't you tell us this!?

 **Monokuma:** I didn't think it would be a problem until I heard you guys keep going back and forth about how the killer could always use the key, keep the door open and lock it on the other side. You'd just be in a perpetual loop of being wrong because you can't ever pin if they used the key or if Shiro did!

 **Setsuki Yori:** Then what did you want us to do!?

 **Monokuma:** I 'unno. Think? How could you lock a door without Shiro's key?

 **Akira Kazue:** I… I'm not sure. The Joker Key?

 **Monokuma:** Nada.

 **Akira Kazue:** The MonoKey?

 **Monokuma:** Nope!

 **Setsuki Yori:** …I know what I have to do.

( _Setsuki closed her eyes, pushing both her index fingers to her temples and started humming_.)

 **Naoki Tsukada:** Oh no, Setsuki's doing her thinking thing…

 **Kenji Taisei:** Wait, how do you know about that?

 **Naoki Tsukada:** She'd do it all the time during exams. She wasn't an A student, but sometimes she'd answer a hard question by uhh... brain snowboarding.

 **Setsuki Yori:** Feel the wind… Feel the cold wind of thought hit your face!

 **Airi Kudo:** Setsuki, I swear to God, if you don't have the answer after this...

 **Naoki Tsukada:** She's right like.. 40% of the time. At best, she's get a D grade on most tests.

 **Kenji Taisei:** I just don't think Setsuk'll have **th-**

 **Setsuki Yori: AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH IGOTIT!  
**

 **Setsuki Yori Cont'd:** My brain did a thing! MY BRAIN DID A THING!

 **Naoki Tsukada:** Uhh.. What'd your brain do?

 **Setsuki Yori:** What if there was another forgery key!? Like, if someone made a copy!

 **Akira Kazue:** Another forgery!?

 **Airi Kudo:** When we were making the forgery key, Kenji Used the keycard on Emi's lab to get us in. And when he left, he hid the keycard again so no one could use it.

 **Kenji Taisei:** I placed the key back at its original hiding spot, where Akira initially hid it. It doesn't make sense. When could someone else have made a forgery key?

 **Airi Kudo:** I used my memory to get the dimensions and outline of the key, once Kenji, Shiro and I left Emi's lab, the original copy of that key was destroyed in its creation.

 **Kenji Taisei:** And I never told her where I hid that key. Airi could make it, but didn't have Emi's key. And I had Emi's keycard, but I wasn't able to replicate the key.

 **Setsuki Yori:** Did someone make the key before Shiro asked to make one?

 **Kenji Taisei:** No, I didn't have the blueprint. Airi did, Shiro gave her the job of making it, since he damaged his dominant hand. Airi couldn't go into Emi's lab because I had the keycard.

 **Akira Kazue:** So… You couldn't make it without Airi, and Airi couldn't have made it without you.

 **Naoki Tsukada:** So, when did the second forgery get made? And why didn't we find it!?

 **Akira Kazue:** When the key was made…

 **Akira Kazue: That has to be it!**

 **Akira Kazue:** It was made while you were both in the same room. That's the only time it could have been made!

 **Kenji Taisei:** Wait, the culprit made a duplicate key while we were all looking?!

 **Kenji Taisei Cont'd:** And… We're jumping on this second key thing already? At least when Setsuki said there were two nailbats, we had evidence that the first nail bat was made incorrectly.

 _(Debate Starts)  
_

 **Kenji Taisei:** If there were two keys… Where's the second one?

 **Yukiji Chimon:** Maybe it's in someone's pocket. Check your pockets, guys…

 **Setsuki Yori:** I dunno where the second one is! Akira, do you know if there was a second key?

 **Akira Kazue:** I never saw a second key.

 **Kenji Taisei:** Then why are we talking about there being one, if we don't have it?

 **Haru Yamada:** And the key being made without anyone noticing? How do you do that?

 **Haru Yamada Cont'd:** Is the key invisible?! Do we have to lock you up, Akira!?

 **Airi Kudo:** I don't recall ever seeing someone make two keys. How do we prove there was two keys?

 **Kenji Taisei:** How bout we don't!? Look, I get that you're pressed for answers, Akira. I don't blame you.

 **Kenji Taisei Cont'd** : But how the hell are you gonna say there are two keys without ever showing us the second one!?

 **Akira Kazue: No, That's wrong.**

 **Akira Kazue** : There is proof that there could be two keys. Airi, remember when we checked Emi's lab?

 **Airi Kudo:** Hm? Ah, I think I see where you're getting at.

 **Kenji Taisei** : Uh-huh. Can you explain?

 **Airi Kudo:** I showed Akira that the amount of brass that was cut to make the key. That it was more than what we actually used to make it. If there were two keys, that means two sheets of brass could have been used to forge two keys.

 **Kenji Taisei:** Airi. Really? Do you remember back when we were making the keys? I had the jigsaw. How many keys did I cut? Were there any failed key attempts before the one we made?

 **Airi Kudo:** Just once. You were very skilled with a jigsaw and followed the outline well enough for Shiro and me to file it down to side.

 **Kenji Taisei:** Yeah. That's correct. I used the jigsaw just once. And do you remember when I passed you the cut out key?

 **Airi Kudo:** I do, in fact.

 **Kenji Taisei:** I passed you one key, right?

 **Airi Kudo:** You indeed passed me one key.

 **Kenji Taisei:** Right! If I cut one key, and gave you one key… how can there be two keys!? When did I make two keys!?

 **Akira Kazue:** Hmm…

 **Setsuki Yori:** What if you made both keys at the same time?

 **Kenji Taisei:** Setsuki, I love you like a sister… But that's the stupidest thing I've ever heard. You can't make two keys at once.

 **Akira Kazue:** ...Oh my god, she might be right! Setsuki, why aren't you right more often!?

 **Kenji Taisei:** Oh god, it's spreading.

 **Akira Kazue:** No, think about it. Airi only had one blueprint, that means that if you cut one key, that would be the only time you could cut it, because you would otherwise forget the blueprint.

 **Akira Kazue Cont'd:** But… If you cut once, but used more than one sheet of brass, you could make more than one key!

 **Kenji Taisei:** No you can't. Airi said I only passed her one key! Akira, you're taking things off the rails!

 **Airi Kudo:** He is correct, he passed me a single key after he forged the first one, after he… After...

 _(Airi held her hand up over her mouth, eyes wide in sudden realization)_

 **Akira Kazue:** Are you okay? Airi?

 **Setsuki Yori:** Whoa, you're looking like you found a roadkill squirrel on the side of the road. What's up, Ai-Spy?

 **Kenji Taisei:** Airi, what are you doing? You're not the type to be shocked.

 **Airi Kudo:** Kenji… You dropped the key before you ever handed it to me.

 **Kenji Taisei:** Wh-what? No, that's ridiculous!

 **Airi Kudo:** You dropped one key for me to pick up. And you kept the other palmed in your hand to file down later.

 **Kenji Taisei:** Slow your roll, Airi. Please, I'm not trying to accuse you, but saying I tricked you… That's really harsh.

 **Airi Kudo:** If you claimed the opposite was true, that I forged the key… I left the wire file in the room with you as Shiro and I left, Shiro left you with the duty of turning off the saws. We left you alone!

 **Kenji Taisei:** Airi, calm down, please…

 **Airi Kudo:** You forged the second key to follow Shiro! Admit it!

 **Akira Kazue:** Wait, wait. Let's not accuse Kenji just yet. This is he said, she said. We need something that would make things more… sure.

 **Kenji Taisei:** You're goddamn right! I don't want to get accused of killing him! Look, we may have disagreements, but I said I wouldn't kill him after I fought Akira in the bunker!

 **Kenji Taisei Cont'd:** Don't you remember something!? Akira knew where Shiro was going, neither of us did!

 **Airi Kudo:** Well… ah… hrm… Monokuma, start the Debate!

 **Monokuma:** You're not the boss of me, Airi!

 **Naoki Tsukada:** You know if you don't start the debate, they're probably just gonna sit in a stalemate until they can argue.

 **Kenji Taisei:** That's fine, there's nothing to debate anyway!

 **Monokuma:** Oh, you think so…? Puhuhuhu~

 **Monokuma Cont'd:** VERBAL SHOWDOWN!

 _(The floor clears, Kenji on one side, and Airi on the other. Two lifebars showing up on each side, with Kenji in red, and Airi in blue.)_

 **Monokuma:** Now you got plenty to debate about, hit it!

 _(Debate Starts)  
_  
 **Kenji Taisei:** Airi and I have the same opportunities to do the same things!

 **Airi Kudo:** You stayed after I left to finish the key.

 **Kenji Taisei:** There was a workshop in the main dorm you could finish the key in!

 **Airi Kudo:** The dorm workshop doesn't have a wire file.

 **Kenji Taisei:** And how do you know that!?

 **Airi Kudo:** Akira has an inventory list for most rooms of the dorm. A wire file has never shown up on a single one!

 **Kenji Taisei:** Fine, but both you and I never heard from Akira where Shiro went!

 **Airi Kudo:** Then perhaps there was another way you learned where Shiro was going.

 **Kenji Taisei:** Don't be stupid, I'd have no way of figuring out where Shiro went! I never followed him!  
 **  
Naoki Tsukada: Hold on a minute!**

 _(Kenji and Airi turn to Naoki with an impatient glare.)  
_ **  
Monokuma:** Uhh… Hey kid? Shut up. We're doin' a Verbal Showdown here!

 **Naoki Tsukada:** Oh, my bad. Sorry. This is my first class trial, okay!? I didn't mean to interrupt...

 **Akira Kazue:** Did… did you have something to add, Naoki?

 **Monokuma:** WE'RE DOING A THING! Damn it, Naoki!

 **Naoki Tsukada:** Hey, shut up! This is important! I'm sorry Kenji… But I know you're lying.

 **Kenji Taisei:** Lying? How am I lying?

 **Naoki Tsukada:** You knew where Shiro was going… I knew where Shiro was going. I didn't think it'd be important… But do you remember what we agreed on doing?

 **Kenji Taisei:** Yeah, we agreed to keep an eye on Shiro in case he caused trouble.

 **Naoki Tsukada:** Yeah. We did. And we held a stakeout together… until we saw Shiro get near the bunker. Then you left while I was trying to find bushes to hide in. I went to look for you, and you didn't show up again until 7PM when we were waiting near the hospital.

 **Kenji Taisei:** W-wha..?

 **Naoki Tsukada:** If you knew where Shiro was going, and had a key on you… You could have followed him, not Airi.

 **Setsuki Yori:** Wait… Is Kenji really turning into a suspect?

 **Haru Yamada:** Yeah, it's one thing to think that Yukata did it. But Kenji? Kenji's the nicest dude here. He's solved class trials… He had a grudge against Shiro, but I thought he agreed to work with him after they buried the hatchet!

 **Kenji Taisei:** I didn't kill Shiro, Naoki. You need to stop this.

 **Naoki Tsukada:** I'm not saying you did, Kenji. Just… With all this context... you disappeared when you saw Shiro get near the bunker. If you made a second key…

 **Kenji Taisei:** Wait…

 **Naoki Tsukada:** Kenji… Did you make the second key? The second key that everyone said you did? Did you follow Shiro into the bunker? Please, dude… I don't want to accuse you, but if you did…

 **Akira Kazue:** I.. I think Kenji might be the suspect.

 **Yukiji Chimon:** But guys… He's one of the main reasons we're alive this long. He's been doing everything he can to keep us together.

 **Setsuki Yori:** He's everyone's best friend. Akira, do you really think he's a suspect?

 **Akira Kazue:** Setsuki, I only think he's a suspect because I don't know who else could have done it…

 **Airi Kudo:** And as friendly as Kenji can be, he's not a perfect being.. He's shown before that he's willing to turn to violent means t-

 **Kenji Taisei:** Do you know what you're even saying?! Look. That bunker took a lot out of us emotionally. None of us were acting sane!

 **Airi Kudo:** You attacked Shiro before you even went in the bunker.

 **Kenji Taisei:** He KILLED Akami! How can I not be upset about that! He got away with it, too! That anger is justified. But after I fought Akira, I told her I would stop until we got out of the school! If Reiko lived after killing Miho, Akira would have done the same goddamn thing!

 **Airi Kudo:** That's if that was what happened. But that didn't… Coming up with an alternate timeline doesn't make what you did justified.

 **Kenji Taisei:** Are we really doing this!? Holding things against me that I did before we came to an agreement? I can change how I act, Airi. We all make mistakes.

 **Airi Kudo:** You're impulsive, Kenji. That's one of the biggest flaws in your personality. Sometimes impulsiveness can be a good thing, but if you used that to justify killing Shiro-

 **Kenji Taisei:** I DIDN'T KILL SHIRO! You're doing exactly what Monokuma wants! Listen to me!

 **Haru Yamada:** Akira, Airi, quit it. Kenji's on our side. He's trying to help just as much as you are!

 **Kiko:** Arf! Arf!

 **Setsuki Yori:** Kiko's right! I know cuz I speak dog! Ken's cool, he wouldn't attack Shiro!

 **Airi Kudo:** Setsuki, I'd normally find your silliness endearing, but right now you're wrong. Kenji has attacked Shiro. Repeatedly. It's not a stone's throw to believe he could have gone too far this time after trying to follow him into the bunker.

 **Kenji Taisei:** Airi! If you keep attacking me we'll never find the culprit! Do you want all of us to die!? I'm not accusing you! I'm not accusing anybody! Why do you keep saying it's me!?

 **Akira Kazue:** Because the evidence leads back to you!

 **Setsuki Yori:** It leads back to Airi too!

 **Haru Yamada:** Shiro even wrote 'Airi' in his own blood. You're trying to throw the trail off, Airi. That's reaaaal damn suspicious.

 **Akira Kazue:** You haven't been saying much, Yukiji. Are you okay?

 **Yukiji Chimon:** Sorry, Akira… Kenji tries his best. I don't want to accuse him.

 **Monokuma: Split! SPLIT! SPLIIIIIIIIIT OPINION!**

 **Monokuma Cont'd:** Well, it looks like we got another Full-Scale Debate!

( _The podium screens once again lit up with the choice between #PursueKenji or #BelieveKenji, while Kenji and Naoki's podiums began moving into the center of the trial room._ )

 **Naoki Tsukada:** S-stop moving the platforms! I'm gonna throw up!

 **Monokuma:** Not on the podium! No puking in my trial room!

 **Kenji Taisei:** Wait, why's Naoki in the middle with me?

 **Monokuma:** Because he screwed up my Verbal Showdown and I don't want him ruining this! He's gonna keep his big, stupid mouth shut! Now, you know the drill!

(The podiums split to two sides, Akira and Airi alone as #PursueKenji, with Haru, Yukiji and Setsuki on the opposite sides as #BelieveKenji.)

 **Could Kenji be the culprit? BEGIN!**

 **Haru Yamada:** There's no way Kenji could be the culprit! He doesn't want to **graduate**!

 **Akira Kazue:** We're not saying that Kenji wants to **graduate**!

 **Yukiji Chimon:** But there wasn't a motive… Why would he kill someone for no **reason**?

 **Airi Kudo:** There was a **reason** , it was its own motive. Monokuma didn't need to provide one.

 **Setsuki Yori:** Then what was the **motive** , huh!? Why kill Shiro for no reason!?

 **Akira Kazue:** The **motive** has something to do with Shiro's plan. Something Kenji couldn't trust.

 **Haru Yamada:** Why wouldn't Kenji tell **anyone** he went after Shiro?

 **Airi Kudo:** Because Kenji didn't want **anyone** to stop him.

 **Setsuki Yori:** If he didn't want to **help** Shiro, he would have never agreed to his plan!

 **Akira Kazue:** Kenji never wanted to **help** Shiro; He wanted to keep tabs on Shiro.

 **Yukiji Chimon:** Kenji knows **killing** is wrong, even if the circumstances are dire.

 **Airi Kudo:** Kenji was the first person to consider **killing** Shiro in the bunker.

 **Haru Yamada:** Why couldn't it be the **mastermind**!? Maybe he's trying to frame Kenji!

 **Akira Kazue:** The **mastermind** can't participate in a murder, or be an accomplice to one.

 **Setsuki Yori:** Maybe the mastermind decided to bend the **rules**?!

 **Airi Kudo:** If the mastermind had played part in the murder, they wouldn't be bending the **rules** , they'd be breaking them.

 **Yukiji Chimon:** What if Shiro's plan was to get us killed and escape the school? Kenji could have tried to **save** us…

 **Akira Kazue:** Kenji killing the rest of us isn't going to **save** anyone if he tries to make it to the end of this trial without anyone voting for him.

 **Haru Yamada:** Then maybe we shouldn't **vote**!

 **Airi Kudo:** We have to **vote** or else we all die anyway!

 **Setsuki Yori:** What are we supposed to do, kill Kenji!? Kenji's the main reason we still have **hope**!

 **Airi Kudo:** **Hope** can lead to ignorance, and you're choosing to not believe something just because it's difficult to fathom.

 **Haru Yamada:** What other choice do we have?! I want to believe in **Kenji**!

 **Akira Kazue:** And that's why we have no choice but to investigate **Kenji**!

 **#PursueKenji: This is our answer!**

 _Full-Scale Debate Stops_

 _The podiums lose their colors and return to their positions, Naoki clinging to his podium with a look of sickness on his face._

 **Naoki Tsukada:** S-stooooooooooooooooop.

 **Kenji Taisei:** ...So this is it. Huh? I'm your suspect. Way to go, Akira.

 **Akira Kazue:** Kenji, this isn't any easier for me to do, but we can't just deny the possibility.

 **Kenji Taisei:** Fine. I did it. I hit Shiro with a Monokuma bust. But… he wasn't dead when I left him. He was alive when I handcuffed him in the morgue.

 **Setsuki Yori:** W-w-w-w-w-w-WHAT!?

 **Monokuma:** Ohoho! Plooooot twist! Where's my popcorn!?

 **Haru Yamada:** Kenji… Please tell me I'm having a fever dream.

 **Kenji Taisei:** No… I did it. I followed Shiro after abandoning Naoki. I followed him into the mastermind control room… and I confronted him. He ran, I hit him with the bust and he fell to the floor before he could open the door. That's true.

 **Kenji Taisei Cont'd:** I stole Akira's handcuffs because I wanted to arrest him. So I dragged him to the morgue, and used my key to lock him in the morgue until we found him together and could interrogate him.

 **Kenji Taisei Cont'd:** But… Goddamn it, he was alive… I swear to God he was fucking alive when I left him. I threw my key away after I locked him in the room. I thought Monokuma would open the door for us to rescue his master.

 **Akira Kazue:** His… master? Wait, Kenji, you're not saying-

 **Kenji Taisei:** I am. Shiro was the mastermind. The mastermind is dead, and the AI Monokuma is forcing us to do a class trial out of revenge.

 **Monokuma:** Oooh~ This is coming to an interesting little climax! Do go on, Kenji!

 **Kenji Taisei:** When I went to follow Shiro, he was at the controls. He was speaking into a microphone, the one you use to control Monokuma. The one Setsuki used.

 **Setsuki Yori:** Oh yeah. There weren't any other mics there, so it has be the one the mastermind uses.

 **Kenji Taisei:** When I saw Shiro using it… I was pissed. I saw red, and I screamed at him. He got out of the chair and ran, and I hit him as hard as I could. I'm not really strong, so it wasn't a killing blow. I checked his pulse, he was alive.

 **Kenji Taisei Cont'd:** I don't know who killed him, or how. But the Monokuma bust isn't the murder weapon.

 **Akira Kazue:** You… You attacked him, but didn't kill him?

 **Kenji Taisei:** When I went back up to meet you, I was planning on following along with you to make sure we found him together. To make sure he couldn't scream or say anything to incriminate me before we all found him, I stuffed newspaper into his mouth.

 **Akira Kazue:** Then how'd he die?

 **Kenji Taisei:** You can figure it out, I believe in you.

 **Kenji Taisei Cont'd:** What was the murder weapon if it wasn't the bust? Let's debate. Maybe we can find this answer together…

( _Debate Starts_ )

 **Haru Yamada:** What else was in the morgue!?

 **Airi Kudo:** A laptop and a pillow. There were also a few documents in manilla envelopes left lying around. Otherwise, there were no other objects in the room when he investigated.

 **Yukiji Chimon:** Maybe Shiro was smothered with the pillow?  
 **  
Kenji Taisei:** No, the pillow was too soft. It would take minutes, minutes that the killer didn't have when they found Shiro in the morgue.

 **Akira Kazue: I agree with Kenji!**

 **Akira Kazue:** The murder weapon would have to be something that would kill someone faster than the pillow. Something that Shiro couldn't struggle against…

 **Airi Kudo:** Something that would cause him to bite through his tongue, and break his wrist thrashing underneath it.

 **Kenji Taisei:** Something to bruise his neck bad enough for it to turn purple.

 **Akira Kazue: …  
**  
 **Akira Kazue** Cont'd: Kenji… You were wielding a crowbar.

 **Kenji Taisei:** Good job.

 **Airi Kudo:** So, Kenji's crowbar was the murder weapon?

 **Kenji Taisei:** I pressed it against his throat until he stopped moving. I realized that the moment you guys found Shiro injured and apprehended, I could never talk you into believing he was the mastermind.

 **Kenji Taisei Cont'd:** I lied about putting away the crowbar, and killed Shiro while I was away. After all, Emi told me breaking locks is against regulations.

 **Kenji Taisei Cont'd:** I just… I had to do it. I had to do it, because no one else would. Shiro saved you once, that was enough for all of you to trust him, and not me.

 **Akira Kazue:** Kenji! Why are you acting like this!?

 **Kenji Taisei:** I don't know, Akira. I just realized the jig is up. I fucked up... But I want you to solve the case before I'm unceremoniously axed. Please… take all the time you want.

 **Monokuma:** Haaah? You pretty much admitted it! We could just vote for you no-

 **Kenji Taisei:** SHUT YOUR GODDAMN MOUTH! I. Was. TALKING!

 **Kenji Taisei Cont'd:** There's something you guys have to know. I'll tell you once you figure the rest of this murder out. Alright?

 **Akira Kazue:** Kenji… what are you doing?

 **Haru Yamada:** This… this is some kind of trick! You're hiding something, Kenji! Don't mess with me, man! It isn't funny!

 **Setsuki Yori:** Y-you didn't k-kill Shiro, did you?! Just… Blink your eyes! Airi knows morse code! We can help you, Kenji!

 **Airi Kudo:** No… I think Kenji is telling the truth. But not all of it. He's hiding something from us. And that's what you want us to figure out, right?

 **Kenji Taisei:** Yep. Just… Figure it out. I'll let you know if you're right.

 **Monokuma:** Hey, hey, hey! I am the Dean here! This is my class trial and you will-

 **Kenji Taisei:** I don't give a fuck who you think you are, you worthless punk robot. I'm gonna die anyway, and goddamn it I'm going to die how I want.

 **Kenji Taisei Cont'd:** Keep going, guys. Find the answer.

 **Yukiji Chimon:** W-what do we do…?

 **Kenji Taisei:** Here's a hint. I lied once during my confession. You can do it, Yukiji. You're not the most outspoken guy, but you're smarter than you ever give yourself credit for. 

_(Debate Starts)_

 **Kenji Taisei:** Where was my lie?

 **Kenji Taisei Cont'd:** Was it when I went into the bunker?

 **Kenji Taisei Cont'd:** Or was it when I claimed the crowbar was the murder weapon?

 **Kenji Taisei Cont'd:** How about when I went to put away the crowbar?

 **Kenji Taisei Cont'd:** Or even better, when I said I threw away the key?

 **Yukiji Chimon: I'm putting you in check!**

( _Debate Stops_ )

 **Yukiji Chimon:** It… it was the key, wasn't it? You said you threw it out when you handcuffed him… But you came back later and used the key again when you got the crowbar.

 **Kenji Taisei:** ( _Smiling calmly_ ) That's right. I lied about putting away the key. I just put it in my pocket. If one of you knew that I made two keys, you probably could have stopped me.

 _(Yukiji just started silently crying._ )

 **Kenji Taisei Cont'd:** Alright… How about Setsuki for this next one. Did Shiro really write 'Airi' as a dying message?

 **Setsuki Yori:** I-I don't know! Wh-why are you singling me out?!

 **Kenji Taisei:** There was a laptop in the Mastermind's bedroom. But the ladder had no blood on it, Shiro couldn't move his body, nor could he write… All he could do was struggle.

 **Kenji Taisei Cont'd:** Setsuki… You're the main reason anyone here can even fucking smile at this point. You deserve a moment.

 **Monokuma:** What. Are. You. DOING!?

 **Kenji Taisei:** Shut up, no one cares. We're debating this, Setsuki.

 _(Debate Starts)_

 **Kenji Taisei:** When Shiro was attacked by me, he actually had pretty a pretty severe brain injury. I don't even know if he knew where he was. He couldn't even speak his own name…

 **Kenji Taisei Cont'd:** There was a laptop in the mastermind's bedroom sitting alone, and there was a Monokuma bust that replaced it. That meant the someone grabbed the laptop, and exchanged it for the bust.

 **Kenji Taisei Cont'd:** After looking at the laptop… That someone learned something, and decided to leave a message.

 **Setsuki Yori: I-I got it!**

 **Setsuki Yori:** You w-wr-wrote the m-message. Shiro c-couldn't… His b-body wasn't working…

 **Kenji Taisei:** There ya go. I knew you could do it.

 **Kenji Taisei Cont'd:** This will require some explaining… But I found out who Airi works for when I checked the laptop. You don't work for the mastermind.

 **Airi Kudo:** …

 **Kenji Taisei:** You work for a group called the Future Foundation. A group made by the survivors of Monokuma's first Killing Game to try and rescue others that are suffering from the same fate. 11037 is a passcode that unlocks a large amount of your classified information, I didn't look at it too much, but you can do that later when you survive this.

 **Kenji Taisei Cont'd:** Your mission was to rescue us, Airi. But you were ambushed and put in the Killing Game too. That's why there's 17 students total. You weren't a student, the rest of us, and the mastermind were.

 **Airi Kudo:** I… I was on your side the whole time… I was here to help you all… and I failed.

( _Airi burst into tears, trying to hide herself in her podium._ )

 **Airi Kudo Cont'd** : I failed! I couldn't save you guys!

 **Kenji Taisei:** You had your memory altered… It's not your fault. Besides, you haven't failed… you can still get the rest of us out of here, even if I won't be joining you.

 **Monokuma:** And WHAT makes you think that!?

 **Kenji Taisei:** I knew the moment this class trial started, that there will never be another killing after this. The killing's done… I believe in the rest of you guys. I know you guys will work together and take down the mastermind once me and Shiro were gone.

 **Kenji Taisei Cont'd:** Ever since we got locked in here, I'd always blame Shiro for everything that went wrong. I'd think that if we were rid of Shiro, we'd all be able to work together better and find a way out… but I didn't think that I was causing just as much trouble for you guys… funny, ain't it? I'm the Ultimate Volunteer and I'm making things harder for everyone...

 **Kenji Taisei Cont'd:** Anyway, you're up next, Haru.

 **Haru Yamada:** Don't… don't do this to me, man! I can't take this anymore!

 **Kenji Taisei:** I'm sorry. I just.. I want you guys to know I'm trying to help any way I can.

 **Kenji Taisei Cont'd:** So… Let me explain something to you, Haru.

 **Haru Yamada:** Please, man… This hurts.

 **Kenji Taisei:** I explained that Shiro is dead, and that I thought he was the mastermind. Setsuki during her meeting with Shiro and Akira found out that Monokuma deactivates after 12 hours of inactivity. Something about it's AI getting too far from the mastermind's original personality.

 **Kenji Taisei Cont'd:** To activate the Monokuma, you have to make it to the control room, and reactivate the bear from where I saw Shiro sitting.

 **Akira Kazue:** How do you know that?

 **Kenji Taisei:** Setsuki blurted it out in a fit of excitement two days ago. She thought I would forget, but I didn't.

 **Setsuki Yori:** Sorry, Akira…

 **Kenji Taisei:** Anyways… When I attacked Shiro, it was the last time he used the Monokuma control module.

 **Kenji Taisei Cont'd:** How long ago did I lock Shiro away? And why?

( _Debate Starts_ )

 **Kenji Taisei:** I decided to kill Shiro. But only after a certain amount of time had passed. 

**Kenji Taisei Cont'd:** 10 hours. I locked him away for 10 hours. With the investigation and the class trial, I feel like we're approaching the 12 hour mark any minute now.

 **Kenji Taisei Cont'd:** With Shiro dead, what do you think will happen when we hit that deadline?

 **Haru Yamada:** Is… Is Monokuma gonna turn off?

 **Kenji Taisei: I agree with Haru!**

 **Kenji Taisei Cont'd:** Yep… Monokuma is gonna turn off any minute now. The controller is dead, and when he times out, this whole system will shut down. Then we'll be able to leave under our own volition.

 **Akira Kazue:** W-wait, Monokuma is going to shut off!?

 _(Kenji pulls out his Monopad, revealing a clock that was 1 and a half minutes from 9:35)_

 **Kenji Taisei:** I attacked Shiro at 9:35 in the morning, and we're fast approaching 12 hours. I don't care if I die or not doing this… I've been intentionally stalling the trial so I can reveal this just minutes before we win. But the rest of you are getting out. I swear it. And as soon as that damn bear shuts off, you can get to work on finding a way out. Any second now…

( _Monokuma starts making a beeping noise._ )

 **Kenji Taisei Cont'd:** Oh, maybe I didn't remember the exact time… Woops.

(The audio cuts to a low white noise static coming from Monokuma's mouth. The PA systems in the court and across the school began to play audio. Shiro's audio.)

 **Shiro Recording:** This is Shiro Kiruma… I'm hoping I can announce this to nobody, because I'm certain by now, I've killed the mastermind and allowed the rest of you to escape. But I found the Mastermind's Control room, and along with that, I've also accessed several key files on the monokuma control computer to gather certain bits of information.

I'm afraid this attack against the controller of Monokuma may fail, and that I'll be dead. But… I want to let you know something that I've found. Airi Kudo is a member of the Future Foundation, a group that has the raison d'etre to rescue other students from killing games. She's a key ally, please… trust her. There's a hidden USB drive in Airi's room that can activate if you type 11037 into a keypad hidden behind a filing cabinet. This most likely has something that can help her take down the Monokuma AI if it doesn't turn off from the 12 hour rule.

Also… Something even more grim. Rio Daisuke, the Ultimate Spelunker died 6 months before the killing game began. He was hit by a car, and the body was disfigured to the point they could barely recognize him. Someone else was Rio Daisuke, someone else isn't who they say they are. But please… Trust Airi. Sh-

 _(The audio played a loud banging sound)  
_  
 **Recording of Kenji:** SHIRO! You son of a bitch!

 **Recording of Shiro:** F-fuck!

 _(There's a large amount of noise, then the audio feed cuts off.)  
_  
 **Akira Kazue:** …Wha...

 **Kenji Taisei:** No...

 _(The students sat there in a brief silence, Kenji started to feel tears soaking his cheeks.)_

 **Monokuma:** Puhuhu~ Not dead yet! Nice try, Kenji. Shiro wasn't the mastermind. In fact… They're still here!

 **Kenji Taisei:** You motherfuc-

 **Monokuma:** Yep. Kenji? You failed! Your plan failed. Shiro's plan failed… Your plan failed because of Shiro, and Shiro's plan failed because of you.

 **Kenji Taisei:** No….

 **Monokuma:** Congratulations!

 **Kenji Taisei:** No no no no NOOOOOOOO!

( _Kenji slammed his fists against the podium, over and over. The screen smashed under his fist, slices of glass cutting up his knuckles.)_

 **Monokuma:** That's despair, baby!

 **Kenji Taisei:** AAAAAARRRGGGH! I'LL KILL YOU, YOU SON OF A BITCH!

 **Monokuma:** Oh, you aren't the first to say that, Kenji! Probably won't be the last, either! Eh, bein' Monokuma ain't easy you know.

 **Kenji Taisei:** FUCK YOU!

 **Monokuma:** Hey, Akira. Summary time! I'll be dealing with Kenji's little temper tantrum.

 **Akira Kazue:** This can't be real… This can't be fucking real.

 **Airi Kudo:** I… I don't know what to do. How am I supposed to help!?

 **Haru Yamada:** I feel like I'm gonna throw up.

 **Naoki Tsukada:** This is bad, guys…

 **Setsuki Yori:** Ken…

 **Yukiji Chimon:** Again? Why do we have to do this again…?

 **Akira Kazue:** N-no… I won't do it! I won't let you kill Kenji! I-

 **Monokuma:** I SAID DO IT!

 **Akira Kazue:** I refuse!

 **Monokuma:** Do it or die. I'll send you to Hell myself.

 **Akira Kazue:**

…

 **I'm sorry, Kenji...**

The murder began when Shiro began his plan to kill the mastermind. Shiro decided to contact several of us in secret meetings to help him forge his plan, to sneak into the mastermind's control room and ambush him. He… He got most of us to help, but the culprit and Naoki were suspicious of him, and chose to keep track of him. Shiro asked Airi and the culprit to get into Emi's lab, to forge copies of the Joker Key, a key that allows you to open any door on the campus.

The culprit took several sheets of brass, despite only needing one to-

 **Kenji Taisei: HOLD ON!**

 **Kenji Taisei:** SHOW YOURSELF, MONOKUMA! GOD FUCKING DAMN IT!

 **Monokuma:** IGNORE HIM! KEEP GOING!

 **Akira Kazue:**

…

 **I… I have to do this!**

The culprit took more than one sheet of brass to use Airi's outlines to cut the shape of the key. They only needed one, but the culprit made two. One for Shiro, and one for them. The culprit layered both of the sheets atop of each other, cutting two outlines at once. When the culprit needed to pass the key to Airi, they dropped one, hiding the other in their hand to make Airi not able to suss out if they were hiding a key or not.

When Airi and Shiro left the lab, they finished the copy of the key, then met Naoki at the meeting spot for the stakeout. They found Shiro entering the bunker, the culprit felt they knew what to do. They abandoned Naoki, and went into the bunker after Shiro. They ghosted Shiro, following him to the mastermind's room.

Shiro was writing a message to tell us, and the culprit mistook him for being the mastermind for doing this. The culprit grabbed a bust of Monokuma sitting on a nearby table, as Shiro tried to rush out and away from the culprit, the culprit striked them on the back of the head, nearly killing him.

The culprit grabbed Shiro, dragging him to the morgue, and using the forged key to open the doors. They moved Shiro to a nearby handrail, handcuffing him against it, and stuffing his mouth full of news paper to make it so he wasn't going to escape or cry for help. The culprit used that time to take the laptop from the Mastermind's bedroom, placing the bust of Monokuma on the table in an attempt to hide it.

The culprit returned to Shiro, and investigated the laptop they recovered from the bedroom, because Shiro was braindead, the culprit grabbed a wrist, and wrote Airi a message. Citing the 12 hour rule that Setsuki told them, the culprit wanted to time the actual killing so that the 12 hours would pass in the middle of the class trial. The culprit left the laptop in the morgue, but removed the batteries from it.

Then, the culprit met with the rest of us as I formed a search party. We loaded up and set out to search for him. The culprit found a crowbar in an equipment room underneath the bunker, and took it as a murder weapon while lying about it as a way to break down the locked doors. When I found out about his crowbar, the culprit knew that I would ask for them to put it away.

The culprit then chose to kill Shiro, to ensure that he wouldn't reactivate Monokuma, even if he wasn't the mastermind. They pressed a pillow they grabbed from the bunker, and the crowbar against Shiro's neck. Shiro, even with a brain injury struggled so hard he broke his own wrist, before succumbing to suffocation.

The culprit left the room, taking the crowbar with them, tossing the key over the ledge to ensure no one would find it, they put the crowbar back, and returned to meet the rest of us. The plan was never to kill the rest of the students and cover up their crime. Their plan was to use the 12 hour rule to cause Monokuma to deactivate, dismantling the entire game and killing the mastermind.

All of this was an attempt to save everyone else, and was done by **Kenji Taisei, the Ultimate Volunteer**.

 _(Kenji was now chained to his podium, thrashing against the chains)_

 **Monokuma:** Good job! I feel like a successful class trial should end in a successful Voting Time! Don't you think?

 **Airi Kudo:** How dare you make us vote after this sham of a class trial...

 **Monokuma:** To tell ya the truth, I just wanted to do this class trial to rub Kenji's failure in his worthless little face. I knew what he wanted to do, I just wanted to entertain him, y'know?

 **Akira Kazue:** So, we have no choice on if we should vote or not.

 **Monokuma:** Ya never had a choice, ya idiot.

 **Kenji Taisei:** Look, just… Vote correctly, alright? I don't want to take any of you down with me.

 **Setsuki Yori:** B-but…

 **Kenji Taisei:** No. It's fine… I guess I'm taking responsibility for my own actions now.

 **Monokuma:** That's the spirit! Now, will you all vote for the correct student as The Blackened? Or will you choose the dreadfully wrong one? Let's find out! Voting time, baby!

( _The voting screen came up for all the students except Kenji, who had broke his podium display earlier in his fit of anger. The students quietly began to vote for the culprit._ )

 **Monokuma:** Alright boys and girls! Let's check those results!

 _Kenji Taisei: 6 votes_

 _(After a few seconds, Monocoins shot out from the remaining podiums, landing in front of the rest of the students as fanfare began to play from the speakers.)  
_  
 **Setsuki Yori:** Goddamnit… This has to be a trick. Monokuma, you killed Shiro and are trying to pin it on Kenji!

 **Monokuma:** You're being silly. I wouldn't betray my own rule. The mastermind can't commit a murder and pin it on someone! What am I, a hypocrite?

 **Airi Kudo:** …

 **Akira Kazue:** …

 _(Airi and Akira shared a brief glance, before turning back to see Kenji, now freed of his chains and leaning gently against his podium.)  
_  
 **Kenji Taisei:** How many more times are we gonna fail? How many times are my friends just going to die, no matter what I do to stop it? I don't fucking understand. We've failed every damn time.

 **Monokuma:** I admit, you've more riley than the typical main character type I see in other killing games. You're all proactive, and punchy! But, that proactivity comes with a price, kid.

 **Monokuma Cont'd:** For one. You have a red hot temper, one that got you into trouble constantly. And you felt like you had to take solutions into your own hands, because you can't trust other people enough to fulfil your wishes!

 **Kenji Taisei:** And why should I listen to you?

 **Monokuma:** Just giving you a little explanation, something for you to work on while you're dead. Or for someone else like you to listen and figure out where you made mistakes.

 **Kenji Taisei:** Shut your mouth!

 **Monokuma:** There you go with your contrarian ways! You act tough and try to pretend you have power, but you have absolutely nothing in your control. As soon as you realize that, you threaten people, or pretend you are going to shut me down by leering at me. It's cute.

 **Monokuma Cont'd:** And yeah… Akira isn't really leader material either, but your leader capabilities make things more like a dictatorship than what she offers. Kenji's gotten so many people killed because he can't swallow what little he had left of his pride. He couldn't cooperate, and he couldn't get along! And now Kenji's caused at least 4 to 6 deaths because of it!

 **Kenji Taisei:** …

 **Monokuma:** C'mon… Think about it. You scared Wakako into killing Bam. You refused to talk Emi out of her plan that would end in her getting killed. You fell for Shiro's tricks and nearly killed Akira for it. And then, when it seemed he was finding his way back to the light, you pressured people into considering killing him, and caused Yukata's emotional breakdown that killed Hana!

 **Monokuma Cont'd:** Buddy, you've killed more people than me in these executions! Good job. The executions are punishments, but what you're doing is bringing people to the edge of despair by being so blinded with hope you can't think realistically!

 **Monokuma Cont'd:** Akira was right on the money when she said you tend to categorize people on how useful they are to you, even if they don't end up being useful in the long run. Setsuki? She's an idiot, and yet she's lived while every other ally you have turned your back on you! Even the ones that can rescue you! You're just so obsessed with black and white definitions for people that you'll kill people you just disagree with!

 **Akira Kazue:** You need to shut the hell up, Monokuma!

 **Monokuma:** Ohoho~ No. You don't get to make that judgement, officer gal. You're not perfect either. You're indecisive, and tend to get people to hold your hand instead of taking things into your own hands! You're too afraid to hurt people with words for them to learn the truth.

 **Monokuma Cont'd:** But oh well~ Guess I'll shut up. I've got a very special punishment for Kenji Taisei, The Ultimate VolunteeeeeYAAAHH!

 _(The group suddenly notices Kiko perched atop Monokuma's head, biting at his ear with as much ferocity as her tiny body can muster.)_

 **Monokuma:** Get off me! Get the hell off me, you rotten little fleabag!

 _(Kiko snarled and growled as she ripped Monokuma's ear right off.)  
_  
 **Monokuma:** I warned you! Spears of Gungnir! To me!

 **Haru Yamada:** Kiko! No!  
( _Haru jumped up from his podium, running to retrieve his dog and kicking off Monokuma's seat as several massive bars shot from the walls, crashing into each other where Kiko was previously, partially impaling the chair Monokuma was sitting in._ )

 **Airi Kudo:** Haru!

 **Haru Yamada:** G-God damn it!

 _(Haru, almost on instinct, backed towards Kenji's podium, blocking him from Monokuma's sight. Kiko spat Monokuma's ear out, letting out squeaking barks of fury.)_

 **Haru Yamada:** Y-you're not taking Kenji from us!

 **Setsuki Yori:** Y-yeah!

 _(Setsuki leapt over her podium, running over to Kenji)_

 **Setsuki Yori:** You wanna get to him, you're gonna have to go through us!

 **Monokuma:** You wanna die, girl!?  
 **  
Setsuki Yori:** Kenji lives, damn it! He made a mistake! You can't just punish him for trying to save us!

 **Monokuma:** You sound like such a hypocrite right now. Nyx's Arrow! Deal with her!

 _(A poison dart shot from a wall, but Airi intercepted it, getting stabbed in the hand with a jet of blood. The dart instantly injected a dark purple liquid into her bloodstream)  
_ _ **  
**_ **Setsuki Yori:** AIRI! NO!

 **Airi Kudo:** I-I'm going to save everyone else, goddamnit!

 **Monokuma:** Whoops. Poisoned the wrong girl. That'll kill you in 5 minutes if you don't get the antidote!

 **Yukiji Chimon:** Give us the antidote, then!

 **Monokuma:** I've had it with people giving me orders! This is MY killing game! MINE! You can't pretend like you can change the rules! 

**Yukiji Chimon:** If you care about your rules, you'd follow them! Airi didn't kill anyone or attack you! You can't kill her by your own rules!

 **Setsuki Yori:** Save Airi or this Killing Game is bullshit! This will be war! You'll have to kill all of us, goddamnit!

 **Monokuma:** But she- it wasn't- I… ARGH! Of course this stupid chess freak is a rules lawyer! You guys are AWFUL!

 **Airi Kudo:** Goddamn it… I can't see. The poison is taking my eyesight...

 _(Akira soon joined them, taser primed and pointed right at Monokuma.)_

 **Akira Kazue:** Antidote. Now.

 **Monokuma:** You're not getting SHIT from me! I am the Dean of Enoshima University and I will-

 _(Akira fired the taser without a second thought.)_

 **Monokuma:** G-graaaaarrrggh! You wanna die too!?

 **Akira Kazue:** Did I stutter?! Antidote! NOW!

 **Haru Yamada:** Your whole killing game plan is bust if you kill the rest of us! You've won NOTHING! This doesn't prove anything about Despair, this is you being a child!

 **Naoki Tsukada** : W-what's even happening!?

 _(Akira pulled her out her second cartridge, priming the taser again.)_

 **Akira Kazue:** Slaughter all of us if you feel like kicking over the table for not having your way! Give Airi the antidote, and free Kenji!

 **Monokuma:** Like hell I wil-

 **Kenji Taisei:** Guys! Stop!

 _(Everyone turned to Kenji, Haru using his body to support Airi as the arm the dart was shot in went completely limp.)_

 **Kenji Taisei:** Guys… this is my mistake. Don't die for me! I don't want Airi to keep suffering because of this. I don't want any of you guys to suffer… I want you guys to live and keep fighting. If I have to die to make that happen… then I guess I have to die.

 **Kenji Taisei Cont'd:** Monokuma, give Airi the antidote now. I'll go without fighting.

 **Haru Yamada:** K-Kenji... you don't gotta-

 **Kenji Taisei:** No. Don't argue with me. Airi's dying! Antidotes don't just automatically heal you. She might be blind forever if you don't help her! Now hurry it up, Monokuma!

 **Monokuma:** Fine, fine!

 _(Monokuma tosses a vial of antidote, Yukiji catching it and getting to work on opening it.)_

 **Airi Kudo:** Kenji… thank you…

 _(Airi began to cough blood as Yukiji looked back at Monokuma)  
_ **  
Yukiji Chimon:** D-do I inject it, or make her swallow it!?

 **Monokuma:** Swallow!

 _(Yukiji pulled out the eyedropper from the vial, slowly letting Airi swallow it as Setsuki tried to wipe her tears with her beanie.)_

 **Setsuki Yori:** Kenji… why? Why did you have to?

 **Kenji Taisei:** I thought I was cut from a stronger cloth. I thought… I thought none of this could get to me. That just having hope can get me through any situation, but.. My anger poisoned that hope. I didn't even think I was doing anything different… And yet I killed someone.

 **Kenji Taisei Cont'd:** This happened because I was wrong, Setsuki. I wasn't strong enough to keep my convictions and protect others. I failed.

 **Kenji Taisei Cont'd:** I… I saw Shiro enter the control room, and my mind told me that there was a shortcut out of here. I finally ran out of patience, and I made up a reason for me to be a hero, when all I was looking for was an easy out.

 **Setsuki Yori:** What are we supposed to do now!?

 **Kenji Taisei** : Live. Keep fighting. I know you guys can do it… no matter what happens, you guys will make it out of this school.

 **Kenji Taisei Cont'd:** Well… It was nice knowing you guys. Sorry for getting you guys tied up in my bullshit.

 **Akira Kazue:** Kenji…

 **Kenji Taisei:** I think you and Airi should be the leaders now from now on, alright…? Get everyone out, Akira. You can do it. No one else is gonna die under your watch.

 **Kenji Taisei:** Before this execution starts… Do you think I'll see her again?

 **Akira Kazue:** What?

 **Kenji Taisei:** Y'know… Emi. Do you think I'll be able to see her again?

 **Akira Kazue:** …

 _(Akira's expression crumples as she felt her vision blur with a well of tears.)  
_  
 **Kenji Taisei:** Akira?

 **Akira Kazue:** Yes! Y-you'll see her again… You two deserve to be happy. I just… I wish it was here. I wish it was here, goddamnit…

 **Kenji Taisei:** Yeah… I wish it was. But nothing ever happens the way you want it to, y'know?

 **Monokuma:** Remember when I talked to you that one night, Kenji? After Wakako died? I told you this misery would be yours one day. And just so ya know, I don't believe in the afterlife.  
 **  
Kenji Taisei:** No one asked you.

 **Akira Kazue:** D-do you think the person who replaced the real Rio is still alive?

 **Kenji Taisei:** Most likely. But I guess it's your job to find him now. Sorry, Akira.

 **Monokuma:** Alright, alright! I'm getting real sick of you, your face and your stupid hero speeches! As I was saying… since you all proved his guilty, the blackened, Kenji Taisei, will receive his punishment!

 **Kenji Taisei:** Akira… I'm glad we were friends, even if I can't remember most of it…

 **Monokuma:** I've prepared a very special punishment for Kenji Taisei, the Ultimate Volunteer! Let's give it everything we've got! IIIIIIIIIIT'S **PUNISHMENT TIME!**

 **Kenji Taisei:** I got you out of that locker. Now get the others out this school, alright?

 **Akira Kazue:** Y-yeah.. I promise I will. You can trust me, Kenji.

 **Kenji Taisei:** I knew I could. Make sure Airi heals. And… ah, to hell with it.

 _(Kenji suddenly gave Akira a hug, Akira starting to cry against his shoulder.)  
_ **  
Kenji Taisei:** Sometimes you can't move forward without saying goodbye. Don't lose your hope, Akira.

 _(Monokuma reaches for his gavel and presses the big red button in front of him with all the might a stuffed bear could muster. Kenji leaned forward to whisper something into Akira's ear.)  
_  
 **GAME OVER**

 **Kenji has been found guilty. It's time for the punishment!**

( _Without warning, Kenji's podium opened from underneath, sending him falling through the hole into the depths and through Akira's arms, causing her to stumble forward and nearly fall herself.)_

 **Akira Kazue:** I won't lose hope, Kenji. I promise...


	59. EXECUTION 5

**EXECUTION 5: Fairweather Friends**

Kenji landed hard onto a mound of dirt underneath him, causing a huge cloud of it to shoot up in the air and leaving him coughing. The coughing only became more violent as he felt a sharp pain in his side, Kenji coughing out blood. Kenji tried to push himself up, but the pain in his side kept him lying there, looking up at the bare light from the hole he fell through.

The hole shut and after a few seconds of darkness, Kenji was hit by two bright lights breaking through. Kenji used a hand to block some of the light as it got closer, more lights flashing on him. The lights gave those still in the trial room the chance to see the execution through their fingers. Kenji suddenly felt his arm get yanked away by the source of the light, nearly popping his shoulder as it forced his arm back to the ground. The bright light shining in his face began to dim, giving him a better sight at just what was manhandling him, sending Kenji into shock.

It was a crudely made puppet or animatronic, he couldn't tell at a glance. It had blonde hair stitched onto its head, tied into a ponytail. False blue eyes were covered by a pair of cracked, plastic protective glasses. The body of the puppet was dressed in a black leather smock, leather gloves and boots around jeans and a shirt, all roughly stitched together. The puppet's face was uneven with a line of stitches in the center holding the head together.

"E-Emi?" Kenji gasped out, choking back tears as the animatronic, arm moving jerkily, reached into its smock and pulled out a hammer. The Emi animatronic swung the hammer right into Kenji's left knee, Kenji reeling in pain. The puppet's mouth flopped out, revealing a speaker.

"Kenji." was the only word that came out of the speaker in a crackly, tinny recording of Emi's voice. The hammer came down on Kenji's right knee, shattering it as Kenji screamed in agony. The Emi animatronic grabbed Kenji's ankles and began to drag him off. Kenji struggling against the puppet's grip, trying to dig his fingers into the dirt when he was struck hard in the shoulder, leaving him screaming in agony.

Kenji, tears of pain in his eyes, turned to see another puppet, this one of Reiko. The body was burnt, slashed and mangled, showing most of its exoskeleton. The animatronic lifted up the familiar nailed bat. "Kenji!" it shouted, a recording of Reiko's voice coming out of the speaker, which Kenji could see under the missing jawline. It swung the bat on Kenji's other shoulder, breaking it as well.

More animatronics entered from the shadows; Rio, back of his head completely gone. Bam, shining only a single light through his intact eye. Wakako, movement stiff from spikes lodged in her limbs. Akami, neck and wrists torn and showing exposed wires. Miho, crawling along the floor with head bobbing, hanging from her neck with just wires holding it. Yukata and Hana were the most normal looking, with Yukata having only a hole in its chest, and Hana's painted a sickly green. Each one was chanting Kenji though distorted speakers consisting of each time a person said Kenji. Each one slowly becoming a cacophonous chant of his name.

"Oh God… what… what is this?" Naoki asked, shaking as he watched the Hana puppet climb onto Kenji's chest and wrap the diamond filament wire around his neck, choking him out while the other animatronics began to drag him away. Kenji gagged and coughed as the wire tightened around his throat. The Hana puppet soon released the wire, Kenji gasping for air as the animatronics lead him to a massive hole in the dirt, their speakers still droning out his name.

The animatronics began dropping into the hole, breaking into scattered pieces upon impact and ending their chants. Kenji, unable to pull away, was soon dragged into the hole, dropped onto the pile of parts. The Emi animatronic crawled onto him, body still intact, or at least as intact as the crude mockery of Emi could be. The puppet rested against his body as Kenji heard a rumbling sound coming from the top of the hole.

From the monitor, the remaining students saw a large excavator, piloted by a Monokuma in a construction helmet. The excavator scooped dirt from a large mound and began dropping it onto Kenji. Scoops of dirt rained down onto him, Kenji struggling against the Emi animatronic weighing him down, fighting all the pain he was suffering to try and crawl his way out of the hole as it continued to fill with dirt. Kenji crawled and pushed, breaking toward the surface. He was inches away, reaching his hand for the edge of the hole, putting the first hand down on the edge.

"KENJI! I LOVE YOU!"

Kenji froze, eyes darting down to the Emi puppet. "N-no…" he choked out, tears filling his eyes as a massive amount of dirt fell from above him, slamming him down against the pile of mannequins, yet his hand stayed firm, grabbing as much dirt as he could. Suddenly, a massive Monokuma statue like the one Kenji used landed on the pile of dirt, it was painted entirely gold and the size of a car. It crushed down the dirt, compacting it with a loud crunch, Kenji's exposed hand going limp.

Kenji Taisei was dead.

"Goodbye, Kenji! What a terrible main character." Monokuma said with a false somber tone in his voice. No one in the room responded to his joke. "Maybe the next one'll be better."

There was a silence in the room, everyone watching the black monitors with lifeless eyes. There was no anger, fear, or sadness in the room. It felt like a cold, black abyss in Akira's heart was beginning to open up and leak into her soul.

"I thought that joke would get me some kind of reaction. What's wrong with you people?" Monokuma asked, trying to get a rise out of the students. The silence would soon be broken by Setsuki's anguished wail as she dropped to her knees. With that, the floodgates were opened as more students broke into tears, Kiko letting out a howl of mourning in Haru's arms. Yukiji curled up into a ball, trying to bury himself in his shirt. Akira wanted to cry, her eyes felt like they were going to be in tears at any second, but that moment never came.

Akira felt numb, like her feelings were 30,000 leagues under a cold dark sea, something she couldn't even reach. She simply looked at the others, broken by the sight of their closest friend crushed like an ant under Monokuma's foot. She then spotted Airi, shaking and convulsing on the floor like a dying dog, face devoid of color. Akira's body moved on its own to run over and pick her up.

"A-Airi! Airi, can you hear me?!" Akira sputtered out, getting a weak cough in response. Akira slung Airi's arm over a shoulder and tried to drag her slightly taller frame away from the trial room and back to the elevator. "W-we're gonna get you help, Airi!" Akira shouted as she stumbled to carry her properly, only for Naoki to rush up to her.

"Did you need help!?" Naoki asked, going under Airi's other arm to carry them together.

"Thanks, Naoki…" Akira said, looking back at the rest of her friends. Everything… everyone… was broken. She just shook her head, heading to the elevator with Naoki and Airi and waiting for it to activate, leaving the image burned into her head as it began to return the three of them together, alone.

"What are you planning to do with Airi?" Naoki asked, only seeing the occasional glimpse of Akira as the elevator lights passed every few seconds.

"Take her… take her to the hospital. The antidote will only stop the poison, but she's still taken a lot of internal damage… That poison was way stronger than anything I've seen before. I'm not a doctor, but I have to help her as much as I can." Akira said, sitting Airi down on the floor and checking her breathing with a palm on her ribcage.

"...Why aren't you crying?" Naoki asked.

"It's not for lack of trying, Naoki. I just… I feel empty. I don't know what I should be doing… But right now I just want Airi to be okay. We've lost two people today, I don't want it to be three." Akira explained, Naoki tucking his hat further down onto his head.

"I've felt empty for a while." Naoki replied with a little chuckle. "A lot's happened… To be honest, I was trapped down there in that glass cell for so long I still wake up and think I'm delusional. That none of you can really be dead." Naoki said, tucking a hand into his pocket. "I'm beyond crying… It never does anything."

"Beyond crying? How?" Akira asked, confused, trying to keep Airi's head elevated as the elevator began to near the top.

"I don't know how to explain it I guess. I just stopped crying at some point, like it doesn't do anything but make me look pitiful." Naoki explained, as the elevator reached the top. Akira was confused, but she continued to look over Airi, lifting her back up and looking back at Naoki

"Let's get off the elevator so everyone else can get out of the trial room." Naoki mentioned, Akira nodding as they cleared the area, leaving the platform and heading for the front door. "Anyway… I think I'm going to go to bed. Sorry for not being much help, Akira."

"It's alright, carrying her was going to be difficult anyway." Akira added, Naoki waving to see her off. 

"Yeah, it's tough to drag around a body like that." Naoki said with an attempt at a joking smile. "Threw my back out the last time I did it." Naoki said, scratching the back of his head.

"Huh?" Akira looked back at him with a confused look on her face.

"Nothing." Naoki said with a shrug. "Just was trying to make a joke." He added, turning back to walk back up the stairs. "See you later, Akira."

"Y-yeah… seeya." Akira said, wrapping an arm around Airi to support her weight as she went to set up Airi on a stretcher near the lobby of the hospital. She pulled Airi onto the stretcher and began to push her down the hall and to the elevator.

"Akira… The laptop." Airi muttered out weakly, Akira ran over to her side to try and make it easier for her to speak.

"What did you say?" Akira asked, Airi looked at her with a glossed over set of milk white eyes, still not able to actually look directly at her.

"Get… Get the laptop from the morgue. I can't… I can't see. I need you to do something for me." Airi muttered out, sputtering with another cough.

"Are you sure I can just leave you here?" Akira asked, Airi closing her eyes and rolling to her back.

"I'll live. Grab the laptop, and take the USB drive from my lab. There's a keypad behind a filing cabinet that I found while I was searching for documents." Airi explained, coughing up more blood before continuing. "Try the code. Try 11037…"

"Y-yeah. I will." Akira said, nodding.

"Whatever happens, you'll have to do it. I'm sorry, Akira." Airi said, shutting her eyes. "I'm sorry that I couldn't-"

"You've done more than enough to help us, Airi. We can still get out of here, I promise." Akira said, a small fire sparked in her heart. "Just get some rest and leave it to me."

Airi smiled and turned over, Akira leaving the hospital and going back to the bunker , climbing down the ladder as she heard the humming of the elevator carrying the rest of the students back up as she went back into the darkness of the railways. She spent a few seconds thinking back, retracing her steps to the morgue. She went left, then stopped at the next branch. "Hrm… left left lead to the equipment and trial rooms… left right was Monokuma control and… the morgue!" she said aloud, running right and then right again at a speed that made her nearly trip on her own feet, stopping when she heard a soft clinking sound echo behind her.

Akira yelped and turned, expecting to see Monokuma or some sort of security countermeasure the mastermind installed. Instead, on the floor was a brass key. "Is… is that?" Akira asked herself as she walked over and picked up the key. She turned back to the morgue door, walking over to it and inserting the key into the lock. The key turned in the lock, Akira feeling a strange mix of dread and excitement as she remembered what Kenji whispered before he died.

 _'I lied about the key…'_

The door opened to the morgue, Akira stepping in and looking away from the drawers which now had _S. Kiruma_ lit up. Akira went to the desk, grabbing the laptop sitting on the desk and taking a moment to see while Shiro's body was gone, the corner was still coated in bloodstains.

Akira inspected the laptop, noticing the underside of it still missing it's back panel and had no batteries. Akira just sighed, before reaching back down into her pocket as she felt something pressing against her thigh. She reached back in, pulling out what appeared to be a laptop battery in her pocket.

"Kenji put these in my pocket when he hugged me…" Akira realized. Squeezing it gently in her hand as she felt tears come to her eyes. "G-goddamn it, Kenji… Always trying to help people, even when you're about to d-die..." She said, sinking down to her knees and wiping her tears off with her eyes.

 ****"Now I just have to find that USB device and report back to Airi." Akira said, tucking the laptop under an arm and standing back on her feet, determined. ****

 **Chapter 5 Complete**

 **6 Students Remain**


	60. Chapter 6: Daily Life 1

Chapter 6: Vanity Of Justice (Daily Life 1) 

Akira left the bunker, moving carefully to go unnoticed by Monokuma. Akira went back to her old ways for now, hiding the grief by making herself as busy as possible. She crossed the campus back to the lab building and grabbed Airi's keycard from the basket near the front door. She went to Airi's lab, which was now a disorganized mess with files on the floor. Akira ran across, looking for a filing cabinet she can push out of the way.

She found a particularly large one, shunting her shoulder against it and using her weight to slide it along the floor, revealing a strange sight. A keypad sitting on the wall, each numbers lit by an LED. Akira sat in front of it and hit the 1 button to start the code. Then, all the LED's shifted their numbers, the next one was in the position of the 5, almost like it randomized every time you hit a button.

"1...1...0...37." Akira mouthed out, getting three green blinks from the light to show she got it correct, the keypad sliding up to reveal just a single USB jumpdrive sitting in a small metal container. Akira grabbed it, putting it in her front pocket and standing back up to grab the laptop and exit the room.

Akira put the USB drive into her pocket as she headed back to the hospital, laptop under her arm. She made her way back to Airi's room. "Airi, I got the laptop." she said, Airi letting out a groan.

"Call… room…" she moaned, clutching her sides in pain as Akira grabbed the stretcher and pushed it to the on call room, since they were in the infirmary. Opening the door and turning the lights on as Akira began to look around.

"Is this a room without cameras?" Akira asked, getting a weak nod from Airi. Akira set the laptop down on a desk, putting the battery in and plugging in the USB drive. Akira looked at the screen and furrowed her brow. "Why isn't it doing anything!?" She complained, before getting another groan of pain from Airi.

"You didn't... turn it on…" Airi moaned out, slightly annoyed.

"Oh. Whoops." Akira said sheepishly, turning on the laptop. The screen lit up, a program immediately opening up a program. The screen went black, lines of green text flying across. When the text stopped, a green outline box appeared with a long list of lines appearing, connecting to about 8 different IP addresses, and a text box appeared at the bottom of the screen that Akira could type in.

Akira typed in "Hello?" into the text box, her words appeared on the chat log, but there was no reply.

"It took me to some kind of chat room." Akira said to Airi, who was just laying on the small bed near the back wall. 

"Wait for them to… to reply…" Airi said, Akira nodding and turning back to the laptop. Suddenly, a series of ellipsis appeared to indicate someone was typing. Akira's eyes shot wide in surprise as she sat up a bit more.

"S-someone's writing back!" Akira exclaimed, huddling up against the laptop to read what the message that replied back was.

 _KNCypher14: This device hasn't been used in 7 months._

The message was posted at 12:18 AM. "Uhh… What should I write back? They said this device hasn't been used in seven months." Akira shot back to Airi, who just tried to stop herself from vomiting from the damage in her stomach.

"Be cautious, but just... try to figure out who you're speaking to, Akira…" Airi warned, Akira thinking about the next thing she could say very carefully. Akira's username was a jumble of random letters and numbers. 

_5deicffK: Who am I talking to? What is this device for?_

 _KNCypher14:If you're asking that i'm pretty certain you don't have clearance to use this channel. I suggest you sign off :/_

"Uhhh… I made them mad. I asked what this device was for. I think they're leaving, what do I do!?" Akira said, clearly panicking from giving an awful first impression.

"Tell them who you are. Fast." Airi said.

 _5deicffK: Hold on!_

 _5deicffK: I'm Akira Kazue!_

 _KNCypher14: And who is that supposed to be?_

 _5deicffK: I'm speaking on behalf of Airi. I'm The Ultimate Police Cadet, for what it's worth._

 _KNCypher14: This can't be just any prank call, you've contacted 15 different IP addresses to contact these servers. Did you use the burst transmitter?_

 _5deicffK: Uh... is that the USB thingy? I typed 11037 like Airi asked and I got it out of a drawer._

 _KNCypher14: ...Yes, that's the burst transmitter. You said you're speaking for Airi, what do you mean?_

 _5deicffK: Airi Kudo. I'm speaking for her because she can't._

 _KNCypher14: Is she alright? Are you speaking for her because she died?_

 _5deicffK: No! She's alive. Just… Incapacitated right now. She tried to stop someone from getting poisoned and got poisoned. She told me to get the burst transmitter thing to see what it does._

 _KNCypher14: Keep in mind the nature of the burst transmitter. It can only contact us once, while the proxies are random, the first and last ones are always the same._

 _5deicffK: What's that mean?_

 _KNCypher14: This can be used once, but if it's used again, the IP can be traced and both our locations and attempt to contact each other will be compromised. Just make sure you don't disconnect ok?_

 _5deicffK: Got it. Uhh.. Is there anything I can do to make sure you know Airi told me to contact you?_

 _KNCypher14: I have one idea. Take a picture of you with Airi, hold up a clock, or put a clock on screen so I can make sure the image isn't doctored, then send it to me._

 _5deicffK: ...How do I do that?_

 _KNCypher14: I guess you're not computer savvy. X.x Fine, just make sure your computer has a webcam or something, search 'webcam' on the computer, and double click the file._

Akira quickly searched for webcam, finding there was a webcam. She double-clicked and opened up the program, being greeted by a small light on the top of the laptop and turning the camera so it lit up Airi and her in the same shot. She then grabbed her Monopad, changing it to the clock function and shining it at the camera as she took the photo.

 _KNCypher14: Just drag the file to the chatbox, it should upload._

Akira saved the file and dragged it into the chatbox. As KNCypher said, the photo uploaded to the chatbox.

 _KNCypher14: Okay. Thank you._

 _KNCypher14: I can see that's indeed Airi Kudo. Did you say poisoned? Why was Airi poisoned?_

 _5deicffK: Well.. Monokuma shot a poison dart at my friend, and Airi bodyblocked it._

 _KNCypher14: ….Monokuma? Did you just say that? Not again..._

 _KNCypher 14: Are you in a Killing Game?_

 _5deicffK: Yes! We are. How do you know about Monokuma?_

 _KNCypher14: The Future Foundation has tangled with Monokuma for years. Though, Monokuma was defeated a few years ago, Copycats keep popping up everywhere, hosting their own killing games as 'tribute' to the real Monokuma. One even kept me trapped in an apartment for at least a year._

 _5deicffK: Tribute? Someone would do a tribute to someone like Monokuma? Why don't I know anything about that?_

 _KNCypher14: It's a very long story. And I'm sure I could get into it, but I don't want to waste too much of your time unless you really wanna know._

 _5deicffK: I guess I'll try to focus on matters at hand. If you want to tell me afterward before I log off that's fine. Look, we're in a killing game and it seems like our memories have been altered._

 _KNCypher14: Sounds like the Orpheus drug._

 _5deicffK: Orpheus?_

 _KNCypher14: It's a mind altering drug that makes you forget certain parts of your history, it's named after Orpheus. I think it involves like.. Looking behind him and seeing his girlfriend go away or something. I didn't really pay attention in that class. How many students are left?_

 _5deicffK: Um.. Just 6._

 _KNCypher14: 6… That must mean you've been through a lot so far, I'm sorry. And Airi's in the killing game?_

 _5deicffK: Yeah. She's been a great help. I understand why she works for you guys… Who am I talking to, by the way?_

A picture was sent through the messenger of a woman with brown hair in a simple chin length bob cut, she looked to be in her mid 20s, wearing a button down dress, and was holding up her cell phone to display the current time and show she just took the photo.

 _KNCypher14: Future Foundation 14th Division Supervisor. Name's Komaru. Komaru Naegi._

 _5deicffK: Supervisor… of the 14th division? Are you the leader?_

 _KNCypher14: Not really. Just the usual leaders are out and I tend to handle messaging with contacts who work for the foundation. I can also redirect you to different divisions. Airi's in the 5th Division, which is the counterintelligence division. All this time, we thought she was dead, but I'm glad to see she's okay._

 _KNCypher14: Typically I'll ask Byakuya or Hajime for instructions, but they're on a boat somewhere. That's all they told me, figures._

Akira noticed her writing style change to something less professional and more friendly, something that put her at ease. To be honest, she was just happy to talk to someone outside the school. Then came the hard question.

 _KNCypher14: Who is still alive? I'm pulling up the Future Crest student roster._

 _5deicffK: Wait, you know we're in Future Crest? Do you know where we are!?_

 _KNCypher14: Knowing where you are and getting to you are two different stories I'm afraid. There's a lot of countermeasures that make it difficult to find you guys. Can you answer my question?_

 _5deicffK: Yeah. Sorry. Well there's me, Airi, my friend Yukiji Chimon, Haru Yamada, Setsuki Yori, and Naoki Tsukada._

 _KNCypher14: Okay, let's see. So that's the Ultimate Police Cadet, Spy, Chessmaster, and… actually, some of these appear to be scrambled, I'm getting random symbols on a few of these guys._

 _5deicffK: Yeah, some of the servers got damaged. He's the Ultimate Lucky Student. Haru's the Ultimate Dog Trainer, and Setsuki's the ultimate Extreme Sports Star._

 _KNCypher14: Got it. I'll add those to my little folder I got on you guys._

 _KNCypher14: Alright, you're added. I've kinda got a 50 kilometer area where the school is pinged on my map. Is there anything stopping you from escaping?_

 _5deicffK: A weird barrier that will shock us when we cross it. Monokuma said something about radiation._

 _KNCypher14: I admit, I know nothing about this Monokuma you're dealing with. The circumstances seem different every time… But the first Monokuma uploaded its specifications online to everyone before we deleted the AI. It's easier than ever to replicate him. Especially with all the dead Monokumas around they can repurpose._

 _5deicffK: Who would want to replicate something like Monokuma?_

 _KNCypher14: Again, it's a long story, but there are a lot of people who got into Monokuma's Despair cult. The leader behind the bear was charismatic, and nihilism was the trend of teenagers those days. They felt like they couldn't control anything in their lives, and wanted to burn it all down._

 _5deicffK: The leader behind the bear? Were they the original mastermind?_

 _KNCypher14: Yes. Junko Enoshima. She was a fashion model with a lot of money, and a lot of influence. She was also in the same class my brother was in back in Hope's Peak. She was the one who orchestrated the Hope's Peak Massacre, the Tragedy and pretty much turned Japan into a hell for the last few years. And even after we were finally rid of her, we still had to deal with her acolytes. Groups like the Remnants of Despair, the Warriors of Hope, and weird robot stuff and Monokuma fanboys and… I don't know. They won't go away. Every time we try, more just show up. More Killing Games, more converted schools, more Monokumas… There was even a Monokuma ran by someone from the Future Foundation._

 _KNCypher14: Junko unleashed a plague on the people that she doesn't even need to be alive to spread. She unleashed an idea, one that is now stuck in people's heads, and all it does is just hurt innocent people like you and Airi.  
_

 _5deicffK: What's the latest group calling themselves? Do you have a name?_

 _KNCypher14: HAVOC. Written in English and all caps. They use this weird circle of arrows surrounding an eye branded somewhere on their body to designate themselves. Carved into their back, burned on their tongues, or on both of their hands. We don't know a lot about them, but we've been seeing these raids on schools, armed troopers gunning down students and kidnapping the rest. We didn't know they were starting to do Killing Games._

 _5deicffK: I guess that explains why this place is Enoshima University. Do you have a list of missing students?_

 _KNCypher14: ...Why are you asking? That's kind of suspicious don't you think?_

 _5deicffK: I made a promise to one of the deceased students. I need to know if Saya Kiruma is safe._

 _KNCypher14: Oh! Hold on, let me check!_

There was a minute of silence, Akira's hands gripping the edge of the desk as she waited for a response.

 _KNCypher14: Sorry, I've got bad news. Saya's high school was massacred, and she went missing. She's one of the most recent kidnappings. It's a bit weird, though. You said you promised one of the deceased students, right?_

 _5deicffK: Yes. Shiro Kiruma. The Ultimate Politician. He was recently murdered._

 _KNCypher14: Saya Kiruma is The Ultimate Class President, right?_

 _5deicffK: I… don't know. Shiro didn't really mention that. You said it was weird? What's weird about it?_

 _KNCypher14: Well, usually with these splinter groups, they take family and loved ones as hostages, in an attempt to give people 'motives' to escape. I was in that situation while my brother was in a Killing Game. So the fact that Saya was only recently taken means that HAVOC isn't operating the same way as others. I'm sorry I can't be more help, HAVOC is pretty new, and I don't know what their plan is._

 _5deicffK: So what should I do to escape? Should I wait for you guys to rescue us?_

 _KNCypher14: I've been trying to find information about Future Crest's location by cross referencing websites and old phonebook pages… But it's strange. All the locations have been wiped from every server. It's like someone got in and scrubbed all the information to find you guys before I even look for it. The only way I can find your school is if I spoke to someone who knew about where it was. We'd have to form a search party. It may take weeks to find you, maybe even months._

 _KNCypher14: For now, the best advice I can give you is to try and keep the morale of the remaining students up. If you feel like you can confront the person controlling Monokuma, go for it, but otherwise pretend you've never spoken to me. The less the mastermind knows about you contacting us the better._

 _5deicffK: I've been trying to keep the morale of everyone else up, but.. We're dropping like flies. I do everything I can to keep things together, but I keep losing people. I'm just so mentally exhausted it's hard to even attempt to try again._

 _KNCypher14: Don't lose hope, okay? :) Help is coming, it might just take a while. Just hang in there, Akira._

 _5deicffK: I'll try, Komaru. How do you know about the student rosters if you can't find the location, by the way?_

 _KNCypher14: It's weird. The pages we need to actually locate the school were cut out with surgeon's accuracy. We can't even find archival footage of certain parts of the website even existing. What I'm gonna try to do over the next few days is check each student's birth location, and average them together to see which school is closest! It's scattershot, but it might work. All I know is you're near Kyoto, but that's still a huge area._

 _5deicffK: I guess I'm a little happy I've got someone actually looking for me. Is there anything you want to tell Airi?_

 _KNCypher14: When she gets out of there, Kyoko wants to get some tea with her later._

 _5deicffK: No idea who that is, but I could use some coffee right now. =_=_

 _KNCypher14: Coffee/Tea will come with victory, Akira! Try and take down that chump Monokuma, but like… in a safe way, don't die cuz you tried something stupid._

 _5deicffK: I've made it this far, haven't I?_

 _KNCypher14: True. Good luck, Akira. We'll be there as fast as we can._

 _5deicffK: I'm not a fan of tea, but I'll join Airi when she goes to see you guys. See you soon._

Akira sighed as she disconnected the USB device from the computer. Checking the clock and seeing it was now 1 in the morning. Just hearing someone care, just hearing someone who wants to help, it made her feel better. While it didn't get rid of what just happened, it made her give a weak smile. "Well.. No clue when they'll get here, but we've just called in the rescue party, Airi."

Airi nodded at that, trying not to speak. Akira went and poured her a small glass of water, setting it at the side of her bed. Airi slowly reached up and took a drink.

"I don't think you're in any condition to confront Monokuma…" Akira said, Airi setting the cup down and weakly laying back in bed.

"We might have to put a… pause on any plans if you want me to be in any of them, Akira… That poison destroyed my body. I don't know if I'll... ever be the same… But I'll fight until the end. I just want to be able to walk again." Airi said, voice raspy.

"I need to get everyone prepared for this confrontation… But I feel like we might need some time off, first. Especially you, Airi." Akira said, gently rubbing the back of her hand on her forehead.

"Right…" Airi set, letting out a cough,

"How does a poison do this much damage…?" Akira asked.

"It was probably a chemically altered version of.. nng.. snake venom. A combination of a neurotoxin and a…. a hemotoxin, designed to do as much damage as possible. Anyone Monokuma shoots with that, he... wants dead immediately." Airi surmised, grabbing a pillow and setting her head on it.

"I'm just glad you made it, Airi." Akira said with a smile.

"I'm just… I'm angry at myself that I failed the initial rescue mission to save you guys. That I've just been wondering if I was the bad guy and shouldn't get to know any of you…" Airi said, looking away from Akira.

"Don't take it out on yourself. You didn't remember." Akira replied, rubbing one of Airi's shoulders to try and comfort her. "Besides, if it weren't for you, Setsuki could have died." Akira said, Airi just sighing some.

"Hey, Akira… something's been bothering me since that last class trial." Airi said, turning her head to look at Akira despite her lack of vision.

"What do you mean?" Akira asked, Airi closing her eyes as she thought.

"Do you remember what Monokuma said during the class trial when you weren't sure that the mastermind could have killed Shiro?" Airi asked, Akira thinking back, trying to remember what he said.

"He said… that he wouldn't do a class trial if the culprit was the mastermind, right?" Akira said, not remembering the exact words, but getting a nod from the injured spy.

"Yeah. Monokuma said he couldn't do a class trial if he killed someone. But, do you remember what Shiro said after watching the Despair tape?" Airi continued, Akira looking away, deeper in thought.

"That's a while back... " Akira complained, before she pinpointed the moment Shiro had his first dinner with his fingers sliced off. "Wait… He said that someone chased Rio up the staircase wearing a mask, right?"

"And that someone wasn't Emi. If it wasn't Emi, and yet Emi was the culprit… Doesn't that mean Monokuma lied?" Airi said, trying to sit herself up, but failing after a short struggle.

Akira's eyes widened as she realized she was right. "A-Airi, you're right! The culprit could have been the one wearing the mask… The mastermind!" Akira said, trying to remember what she said with Shiro during the meeting in the theater. "We surmised that the culprit was most likely a male, under 5'10." Akira continued "We ruled you and Haru out when we brought it up."

"...Why did you think it was a male, then suspect me?" Airi asked, Akira giving an awkward laugh.

"Uhh… The culprit was flat as a cutting board." Akira mentioned, Airi just giving a sigh. "And you're a little taller than 5'10, aren't you?" Akira continued, rubbing a shoulder awkwardly. "And out of all the girls you're uhh… taller?"

"I would slap you if I could move." Airi said, glaring at Akira. Or trying to.

"Either that, or the culprit was wearing an unusual outfit that made the gender more ambiguous. Still… if the mastermind lied, doesn't that mean that first class trial should be thrown out?" Akira asked.

"We can't get Emi back… but maybe we can outplay the mastermind into being punished." Airi replied, trying to get herself to move again, but being pushed down by Akira.

"So confronting the mastermind is our plan… But you should really rest. I don't think they'll let you do a class trial while being completely immobilized and coughing up blood.."

"Fine. We'll confront Monokuma when I can walk, deal?" Airi asked, pausing a moment and shaking her head. "Shake my hand. I can't move it."

"Deal." Akira said, reaching to her limp hand and giving it a squeeze. Akira got up, walking to the other bed in the on-call room. "I'll stick with you so you heal faster, alright? Goodnight, Airi." Akira said, pulling herself into the covers and getting ready to sleep. 


	61. Chapter 6: Daily Life 2

Chapter 6: Vanity of Justice (Daily Life 2)

Akira stayed mostly out of contact with the other students to tend to Airi. The amount of damage just a few minutes of poison had caused was absolutely devastating. Airi couldn't move for three days, and then after that, she could move, but her hands were tingly and numb, and it seemed none of her vision had returned. Akira was so busy with Airi, the only person she had spoken to was Haru, who would occasionally bring Kiko so Airi could cuddle her.

A week later, and Airi could only barely walk, and was still blind as a bat, but now was the time Akira needed to rally her troops, and talk them into confronting Monokuma. She started with Yukiji, leaving Airi at the hospital for the time being. Akira had spent part of the week raiding Kenji's lab for anything that would prove useful as she prepared to face down Monokuma. She managed to find a set of walkie-talkies, giving one to Airi in case of emergencies.

Akira headed to the second floor, walking through the halls to find Yukiji's room. Naoki was standing by his door, knocking on it. He had a plastic bag in his other hand. "Yukiji! I know these doors are supposed to be soundproof, but c'mon. You can hear knocking. Get your sandwich, dude!" he said, pounding on the door.

"Hey, Naoki. Something wrong?" Akira asked, Naoki turning to her.

"Oh hey, I haven't seen you in a while." Naoki said to Akira with a exhausted smile. "Yeah, Yukiji's been in here for hours. He skipped breakfast, and he's been ignoring anyone who comes by his door. He's been looking terrible…"

Akira felt a small pit of guilt form in her heart. The past week, she had been focusing so much on tending to Airi that she had neglected the others. She had hoped the others would keep each other company, but those hopes were sunk at the news of Yukiji's seclusion. "Here, let me try." Akira offered, Naoki shrugging and handing her the bag.

"Knock yourself out." Naoki said, walking off. Akira knocked on Yukiji's door.

"Yukiji? It's Akira. Can I come in?" she asked, getting no response at first. "Yukiji, I'm sorry I haven't been around recently. Airi's been on the edge of death and I had to put a lot of time into looking out for him and-" she began with the door suddenly opened. Akira's eyes narrowed with concern as an even more tired looking than usual Yukiji greeted her. His cheeks were sunken and his head lolled slightly to the side and couldn't even look Akira in the eye.

"Hey." Yukiji said weakly.

"Yukiji, you look terrible. Have you been getting any sleep? Wh-what have you been doing?" Akira asked, Yukiji letting out a yawn in response.

"No… I've been… uh… just kind of… here." Yukiji said, Akira looking around his room. The room was a mess of discarded KitKat wrappers and scattered chess pieces on the floor. His bed was practically stripped of its sheets and pillows, with only the top sheet left on the mattress. "I... I've been having some trouble sleeping."

"Yukiji, don't take this wrong way-" Akira began.

"None taken." Yukiji interjected.

"...You look like hell, buddy. Here, have something before you turn into nothing but bone." Akira said, reaching into the bag and handing Yukiji a wrapped sandwich. Yukiji unwrapped the sandwich and sat down at the edge of the bed, taking a bite. Akira sat down next to him, patting him on the back. "So, what's on you mind?" Akira asked.

"I… should've said yes." Yukiji said. 

"Huh? Yes to what?" Akira asked, confused.

"When… Wakako died, Kenji came up to me and offered to talk to me. I should've talked to him. Maybe it wouldn't hurt as much…" Yukiji said, sniffling and taking another bite of sandwich. Akira reached back into the bag, grabbing a bottle of water and opening it before handing it to him. Yukiji took a drink before speaking again. "Everything's falling apart, Akira. There's only six of us left and Airi's dying… how are we going to get out of here?"

"Airi's not dying, Yukiji. She's been getting better. She's not gonna be fully healed for a while, but at least she can walk now." Akira explained. "And we're gonna get out of here. We're going to have one more class trial…"

"Oh no, not again. Not another one. I-I don't want anyone else to die, Akira! Why would we-" Yukiji said, fighting back tears when Akira hugged him.

"No one is going to die, Yukiji. We're going to investigate the school. We're going to catch the mastermind by using his own rules." Akira began.

"H-huh? What do you mean?" he asked, confused as he pulled out of Akira's hug.

"We're gonna prove that the mastermind killed Rio, not Emi. That the mastermind lied so he could keep his killing game going." Akira said. "But Airi and I can't do it alone. We're gonna need all of us for this. If I'm demanding things, he'll ignore me. But if I can get everyone to back me, he'll have no choice. You with me, Yukiji?" Akira asked.

"The last time we tried a plan, Shiro and Kenji died. Are you sure that's a good idea?" Yukiji asked, worried.

"We weren't all on the same page last time. As much as I hate to speak ill of the dead, Kenji was still an outlier among us. He was too stubborn to fully trust Shiro and there's a good chance he'd keep trying to divide us as long as either of them were still here…" Akira said.

"I'm tired of secrets, Akira. Kenji killed Shiro because Shiro didn't trust other people enough to share information. I… I think you're wrong." Yukiji said, clearly frustrated. "I'm tired of sneaking around and lying to each other. Kenji and Shiro both didn't trust me to help them."

"I know. And that's why I said as long as either of them were still here, not just Kenji. Shiro… tried to help everyone, but he still had his problems. He relied on me and Airi and saw you guys as just tools and even then, he only told me his plan when it would've been too late for me to tell anyone else. If Shiro had really been open with everyone, Naoki and Kenji wouldn't have tried to follow him. Kenji would know he wasn't the mastermind and could've helped him. But Shiro was caught up in his plan to capture to mastermind and Kenji let his hero complex get the better of him." Akira said, Yukiji taking it all in.

"This is confusing…"

"I don't think either of them were right. This whole thing was a misunderstanding and it got people killed... But I want to tell everyone my intentions before I start planning stuff. It's risky, I know. Monokuma's got eyes everywhere, but I'm not going to leave any of you in the dark. I want you all in this plan. It's the only way it will work." Akira said. "And there's no one I want by my side but you, Yukiji. So whaddya say?" she asked, offering a hand.

"Will I be able to help…?" Yukiji asked.

"Of course you can help. You're not always the loudest voice, but you know when to be brave and when other people can speak for you." Akira said with a reassuring tone. Yukiji looked to her hand, then smiled and took it. The two shook hands, Yukiji letting go to finish his sandwich.

"Count me in." Yukiji said, Akira smiling back.

"Alright, thanks Yukiji. Get plenty to eat, we're gonna be scouring the entire ground for clues. I'm gonna get the others." Akira said, getting up and moving to walk off before stop. "Wait… hold on, something's bothering me."

Akira walked around Yukiji's bedroom, picking up wrappers and tossing them into the trash can by his nightstand. "I was gonna get that myself, Akira. You don't have to-" Yukiji spoke up.

"I will not leave a messy room under any circumstances. This room will be clean, damn it!" Akira shot back.

"Okay…" Yukiji said, getting up to help. The two quickly got the floor clean and made Yukiji's bed. Once they were done, the two left the room, Yukiji heading for the dining hall while Akira went to find Setsuki.

"So… Where are we going?" Yukiji asked.

"I'm recruiting everyone for this. I think the more people I have with me, the better my chance for success will be." Akira explained. "It's pretty much using peer pressure, but hey it works."

"Okay, I'm gonna grab something to eat. Let me know when you'll need me." Yukiji said, waving her goodbye as he left.

"Will do. We'll mob up when I think it's a good time." Akira said, waving back before looking to find Setsuki. She pulled out her Monopad, looking to see where Setsuki was. Strangely, she was behind the pool facility. Akira closed her device and went back outside the dorm building and back out to the campus.

She managed to catch up with Setsuki, who was walking along the grass. "Hey, Setsuki!" Akira called, waving over. Setsuki didn't turn to look at her or say anything, she just walked slowly forward.

"Uhh... Setsuki? I'm right here. You OK?" Akira asked, running up to her.

"I know I've been gone a while, but I was helping out with Airi. She's okay now! Well, kind of." Akira explained.

"Uh-huh." Setsuki said flatly."

"Uhh… Setsuki, you know you're not wearing boots, right?" Akira asked.

"Yeah…" Setsuki said, voice trailing.

"...Why?" Akira asked, scratching her head.

"I'unno." Setsuki said, not looking where she was going, head down looking at the grass.

"Are you sick? Do you want me to take you to the hospital?" Akira asked, concerned.

"I'm fine." Setsuki said, still walking, and was now entirely past the building and into the grass behind the pool facility, approaching the electric barrier wall that surrounded the school.

"Ah! Setsuki! Stop!" Akira exclaimed. "Y-you're walking right towar-." Setsuki was completely ignoring her warnings, getting dangerously close to the barrier while nearly sleepwalking into it. Akira broke into the run, passing by Setsuki before turning on her heel, charging at Setsuki and tackling her to the grass.

"Setsuki! What are you doing?!" Akira shouted, holding Setsuki down.

"I… What?" Setsuki said, blinking a bit. "Akira? Where am I?" Setsuki asked.

"You were walking up to the barrier! Setsuki, what's wrong?!" Akira asked.

"I… I dunno. I just kind of… went on auto-pilot." Setsuki admitted.

"Auto-pilot?" Akira asked, the panic in her voice fading.

"Yeah, I've been kind of just...doing stuff on auto-pilot. Eating, sleeping, showering… other stuff." Setsuki said, sitting back up and putting both hands on her knees.

"Why?" Akira said, staying on one knee to let Setsuki stand back up.

"I guess I'm just… tired." Setsuki said. "I'm tired of all the murder, the misery, the secrecy and lies…" Setsuki said with a sigh. "I can't do this. Why does this have to be us?"

Akira put a hand on Setsuki's shoulder. "I can't read why the mastermind is doing this besides… Well.. maybe they're just an asshole." Akira said, getting a weak chuckle from Setsuki.

"Hey, Akira… you said I make people happy, right?" Setsuki asked, hugging her own knees

"Yeah… Why do you ask?" Akira said, finally getting back onto her feet.

"Then why couldn't I help him?" Setsuki asked, looking down on the grass.

"Him? You mean Kenji, right?"

"Yeah… you said I'm your ballast, but Kenji still snapped and attacked Shiro. W-What was I supposed to d-do?" Setsuki said, shaking slightly.

"Setsuki, I-" Akira began, Setsuki swatting Akira's hand away.

"Akira… I get it. Sometimes you have to lie to people to help them feel better, when you don't know what else to say that would help. I don't hate you for it… But I wish you never lied in the first place." Setsuki said, looking away from the police cadet.

"I didn't lie to you, Setsuki. I meant every word I said." Akira said.

"Then why did K-Kenji die?! Why c-couldn't I keep him from going off the deep end!? If I make p-people so f-fucking happy, why does everyone around me kill each other the moment I fucking trust them not to!? Does my friendship make people want to cave someone's goddamn skull in!?" Setsuki shouted, getting up to glare at the policewoman.

"Setsuki, it isn't your fault! It-" Akira was cut off by Setsuki shoving her.

"It can't keep being someone else's fault, Akira! The mastermind hasn't done shit except for keep us here, and we've been murdering each other. It's not his fucking fault! It's m-mine for trusting people! It's yours for lying to me! It's yours because you can't do anything except shake your fist at the mastermind that you don't even know… The moment things went wrong, we started fucking killing each other and now there's only six of us left. It's OUR fault, Akira! OURS!" Setsuki shouted, taking Akira aback.

"We fell for every f-fucking motive. And when the motives stopped, we just had to keep going and kill and blame and lie to e-each other. Don't you get it!?" Setsuki continued, tears streaking down her face. "W-we're not better than anyone! We're horrible people, and the only reason we're alive is the fact you lie to everyone that they're okay… We're not okay!" Setsuki said, rubbing her face before pointing a finger accusingly at her friend. "M-maybe we should've died!"

"But we have to keep listening to you try to justify things after everyone's d-dead, like you know what to say to stop it, and all the people who commited murder w-were not bad people.. But they killed someone! It n-never works! You don't know what to d-d-do that would work! Just say that you don't know what to do either, Akira! You don't!" Setsuki finally screamed out.

"I DON'T KNOW WHAT TO DO, OKAY?!" Akira shouted. "Those were my friends too, Setsuki! I didn't expect any of them to act like this! How was I supposed to?! I'm not a fucking psychic! I believed in Kenji. I wanted to believe in Shiro. I was wrong! I was fucking WRONG! Does hearing that make you happy!?" Akira yelled, grabbing Setsuki by the scruff of her shirt.

"N-no…" Setsuki said, unable to meet Akira's eyes.

"No, it doesn't! Maybe I was too optimistic on how this killing game would turn out, but what kind of person would I be if all I did was tell everyone that we're all awful murderers!? You'd all want nothing to do with me if I spent this whole time distrusting everyone! I-I want to believe in you guys. I know I ended up being wrong, but I don't know what else to believe!" Akira shouted, feeling the sting of tears.

"What you want to hear and what you need to hear are different, Akira. You can't lie until you feel better. Life doesn't work that way." Setsuki continued to argue, grabbing onto Akira's blue tie and refusing to let go.

"And you can't just call everything you don't want to hear a lie just because it doesn't fit the way you see things. I'm not denying the truth, I'm trying to believe in the best of you. That you can overcome your problems because you're inherently good people. I'm tired of always having the worst thing happen… But it feels like we have no control over that. The only thing we can do, is force the mastermind to stop the killing game." Akira said.

"H-how are we supposed to do that?!" Setsuki asked. "Are you going to do the exact same thing Shiro did!? Tell secrets and hope no one minds you going to go murder someone!?"

"No! I'm going to get us all together and we are going to confront Monokuma! We're gonna prove that this killing game has been rigged from the start! But I'm not going to do it alone! I need all six of us!" Akira said, fire in her eyes. "And that includes you, Setsuki! I have a plan that calls him on his bullshit! If he's so obsessed with rules then I wanna see how he feels when we prove he broke them!"

"Now, are you with me or not?!" Akira asked, getting inches from Setsuki's face.

"I-I… I think so…" Setsuki said, shrinking down.

"You think?! THINK?! I don't wanna hear that! I wanna hear yes or no! Didn't you say that sometimes you gotta eat shit before you really feel the Hype?! We've eaten a whole mountain of shit! Now, are you Hyped or not?!" Akira shouted, voice echoing through the campus grounds.

"Oh god you're using that word.. Now it's lam-"

"WITH ME OR NOT!?" Akira screamed.

"AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH I'M WITH YOU!" Setsuki exclaimed, raising her fists in the air and screaming before suddenly headbutting Akira. "LET'S DO THIS!"

"OW! Why did you headbutt me?!" Akira shouted

"I DON'T KNOOOOOOOOW!" Setsuki hollered

"Well that made finding you two easy." came a voice from behind Akira. Still rubbing her head, Akira turned to see Airi, wearing a hospital gown, slippers and long blue overcoat.

"Airi! How'd you find us!?" Setsuki asked, shocked at seeing Airi standing. 

"You've been shouting the whole damn time." Airi pointed out.

"...Why are you wearing that?" Akira asked.

"You misplaced my clothes." Airi said.

"Airi, I put them right next to your bed…" Akira countered.

"...Akira, I'm blind." Airi said bluntly.

"I know! But I thought you'd wait until I got back!" Akira argued, flailing her arms.

"I wanted to know where you went. I can remember most of the campus thanks to my memory, but I can't use the Monopad to find you. It doesn't have any blindness options."

"She's blind?" Setsuki asked.

"For now. I don't know how long it'll last." Airi said. "Did you think I was wearing the eye bandages as a fashion statement?" Airi said in an attempt to make a joke. "The other symptoms seem to be fading, but my vision isn't coming back in the slightest."

"Ooooh! Hey, if you learn martial arts, you can be a badass blind ninja lady!" Setsuki suggested.

"...I already know martial arts." Airi said with a sigh.

"Then why aren't you a badass blind ninja lady?" Setsuki asked.

"Ninjas are dumb. They're historically spies but everyone acts like they could kill fifteen samurai with their bare hands."

"Because they totally can!" Setsuki objected.

"If I can see where you were right now, I would slap you." Airi threatened.

"You could try. Ya got a 50/50 chance of bitch slapping Akira." Setsuki teased Airi.

"Please don't slap people." Akira warned. "Let's just find Haru…" she said, pulling out her Monopad.

"You see, Airi? Haru is in his ro-… oh." Setsuki said, noticing the annoyed expression on Airi's face.

"It has been about 5 minutes since you learned I'm blind and you're already making jokes at my expense." Airi said, nearly gritting her teeth.

"Haru's with Naoki n' Yukiji. Let's go meet all of 'em. That'd make six of us for Akira's plan!" Setsuki said with a smile, before looking at Airi.

"I'll be fine. I know where Haru's room is from memory." Airi said. "Lead the way, Akira."

Setsuki quickly replied before Akira could leave. "If you can find Haru's room by memory, then where are we right now?"

"We're behind the pool facility about 10 feet from the barrier. I can hear the humming of the barrier, and I smell chlorine in the air." Airi replied, getting a sigh from Setsuki.

"Yeah.. uhh.. That's right. We're going then." Setsuki said, defeated by Airi being right.

Akira nodded as the three headed back to the campus, going back inside and up the stairs to the second floor. Akira went to knock on Haru's door, only for Haru to swing it open. "There you are! Get in! Hurry!" Haru said frantically, dragging each of them into his room before shutting the door, Kiko running over and sitting in front of the door.

Akira looked around the room, seeing Yukiji sat in the center on a pile of pillows. "Hi." he said, giving her a wave. Naoki was leaning against the wall, watching all of this.

"We doing a seance?" Setsuki said, sitting on one of the pillows arranged in a semicircle of six, though Yukiji brought four extra pillows with him.

"Nope." Haru said, checking to see if Airi was with them before quickly locking the door, placing a piece o against it, and using a handheld nail gun to nail it shut.

"Is that a nail gun?" Airi observed, despite her ability not to see it.

"What are you doing?" Akira asked, but Haru turned around, pointing the nail gun at her.

"Sit down, Akira. We need to talk." Haru ordered. 

"Wh-whoa! Haru! Don't point that thing at me!" Akira said, holding her hands up.

"It's important, goddamnit!" Haru shouted. "Sit on the pillow. All of you!"

"I-I'll sit down! Just calm down, Haru!" Setsuki said, clearly worried.

Akira quickly found a seat next to Yukiji, Setsuki sat on Yukiji's left, Airi sitting next to her. Naoki finally got off the wall, sitting next to Airi. Haru continued firing nails into the board. "So, how long have you been at this?" Setsuki asked.

"About an hour." Naoki replied, Haru putting the last nail in the door.

"I have no choice but to do this. It's about the Mastermind." Haru explained.


	62. Chapter 6: Daily Life 3

Chapter 6: Vanity of Justice (Daily Life 3)

"Haru… are you gonna shoot someone with that nail gun?" Akira asked, eying the nail gun in Haru's hand uneasily.

"No! I'm not. I just… I need to make sure this is going to work properly!" Haru said, sliding the nail gun behind him and away from everyone else. "I know I sound like I'm crazy, but I swear… hearing what Kenji said during the last class trial made me realize something."

"Huh? What did you mean? Kenji said a lot of things during that class trial." Naoki pointed out.

"Remember when he thought Monokuma's controller couldn't reactivate it in the 12 hours he held Shiro? Monokuma activated anyway." Haru explained, putting a hand on his knee as the tension in the room diminished slightly.

"Why does everyone keep saying Monokuma turns off after 12 hours? We don't know that." Naoki complained, but Akira looked at him.

"No, that's wrong." she replied, Naoki looking a bit confused. "Monokuma did turn off, and he went into a standby mode after 12 hours of neglect. Me, Setsuki, and Shiro are witnessed it. Setsuki told Kenji about it, and he used that to follow Shiro. Remember?" Akira corrected Naoki, who was just shaking his head.

"Kind of. It's been a week, okay?" Naoki replied, adjusting his hat. "Setsuki, do you remember that happening?"

"Yeah, I do actually! I kicked it! I gave him elbows for dinner!" Setsuki shouted, grabbing her pillow and smacking it with her palm. "Like this! And that! And more of this!"

"Setsuki, stop saying you hit Monokuma! He'll punish you." Akira warned, bug eyed from her shouting that out loud.

"Yeah, but he deserved it. He needed a new dental plan. Made of punches." Setsuki objected, punching her pillow again.

"Well, Kenji killed Shiro and Monokuma reactivated anyway. We all searched for him together, so… that means one of two things." Haru said, holding up one finger, while petting his dog on his lap.

"The first. The mastermind was indeed not Shiro, and it wasn't one of us either. The mastermind hid the moment they found out we started searching for Shiro, and turned the damn bear back on the moment we left." Haru explained, holding up a second finger. 

"The second. The actual mastermind was one of us, and reactivated Monokuma under our noses while Shiro was searching for them. That's the one I'm afraid of the most… and the reason why we're in this room."

"Wouldn't that put them in a pinch if it was one of us? Like.. having to look at the footage of the murder so they know the actual Blackened before the class trial started?" Naoki explained, Haru nodding somewhat.

"We were still right. So I guessed they knew the culprit too." Akira theorized, putting a hand to her chin. "Maybe they have like.. Secret ways to look at video tapes without being at the control booth? Maybe they have a special Monopad."

"I assume it just looks like the rest of the Monopads, so we can't be sure by lookin' at em. But this is why I'm forcing all the people I know to stay in this room until Monokuma shuts off. Then, we'll try and figure out who it is by investigating the entire school." Haru stated, pointing to the boarded door for emphasis.

"...That's actually kind of smart, Haru. Good job." Airi replied, looking the wrong way.

"Uh… Airi, that's me." Yukiji said.

"...I knew that." Airi replied, turning her head.

"...So what happens if he doesn't shut off?" Setsuki asked.

"Then the mastermind is someone we haven't met yet. He can't force us out of my dorm, it's my room. If he breaks down my door we'll refuse to leave." Haru replied, looking back at the door to hear if anyone was on the other side. "And if anyone else tries to break that lock, or escape, I'll shoot them with the nailgun."

"Wait, really!?" Akira exclaimed.

"If that bugs you, don't break the door until 12 hours pass! Duh! It's not like I wanna run around nailgunnin' people!" Haru shot back, pulling out the nail gun again for emphasis.

"What're we gonna eat!? What're we gonna drink!?" Setsuki shouted.

"I brought some bottled water. Just get them from under my bed."

"What about food?" Yukiji asked.

"...Oh. Whoops. Look, twelve hours isn't that bad. I guess we'll eat something before we start investigating." Haru said with an awkward chuckle.

"This is nuts! Do you seriously think we'll be able to survive in here for 12 hours?!" Naoki asked.

"...Have you ever survived 12 hours before? What kind of question is that!? This place has a bathroom! If ya gotta poop, poop in there!" Haru shot back, Kiko pointing her nose toward the bathroom door.

"I mean, Haru's got a point. We've all gone longer without food. We were trapped in that bunker for days, and Naoki was locked away for 6 months." Yukiji said, pointing a finger toward the ceiling.

"Monokuma fed me cheese toast. It was like a grilled cheese sandwich, but he forgot to finish the actual sandwich. So it was just cheese on toast." Naoki replied, with a sigh. "I don't think I could ever look at cheese toast again."

"Cheese toast is the food I grew up on!" Haru exclaimed, before collecting himself. "Anyway, the other option is Monokuma turns off while we're in here… and one of us is lying about being the mastermind." Haru said, lacing his fingers. "And… to be honest. I'm not entirely sure what to do when that happens."

"Don't worry, Haru. I've got a plan." Akira said, patting him on the shoulder.

"You do? What's that?" Haru asked.

"My plan was to conduct one last investigation. Look around the whole school to find proof that the Killing Game as been rigged since it began. I uhh.. I was actually coming to ask you to help me confront Monokuma." Akira explained, Haru scratching his cheek in thought.

"Hrm… how do we confront him if he's off?" Yukiji asked.

"I assume someone will turn him back on while we're investigating, we'll need every advantage we can get." Airi said.

"I thought Monokuma has most of the doors locked… Won't the investigation kind of suck?" Haru asked.

"Not with this." Akira said, reaching into her breast pocket on her shirt. Held into her folded hand, she showed the whole group Kenji's key.

"Whoa, no way. Where did you-" Haru asked.

"Kenji gave it to me. He lied about throwing away the key. I guess he palmed it so it looked like he threw it away on camera, but actually kept it to give it to the person who caught him." Akira explained, tightening her hold on the key so the camera couldn't spot it.

"Ah man, Kenji! You came through for us again, buddy!" Haru said, reaching for the key. Akira pulled her hand back.

"Sorry, Haru. But it's probably better if I hold on to it. You did lose the Heart Key when we were in the bunker." Akira explained.

"Ah, gotcha. So, we got access to any room we want, then." Haru said with a smirk. "We all going together or are we splitting up?" he asked.

"We have to be very careful about the mastermind reactivating Monokuma while we're investigating. So we'll form two groups of three. Don't let anyone out of your sight until our investigations complete." Akira said.

"I think groups of three will make it easier. After all, the Mastermind could just attack their investigation partner, and Airi's blind so she'll need someone to be her eyes." Yukiji said.

"Good point. So let's say we have me, Yukiji and Airi in one group and Haru, Setsuki and Naoki in the other." Akira said, pointing to each one of them as she said their names.

"I think the three of us might not make great investigators. We haven't really done it before." Naoki replied.

"That's fine. Me and Airi usually do the investigations. Anything you guys miss, we'll pick up the slack. There won't be a time limit for this like Monokuma's forced investigations. We need to check every room for anything we can find."

"Isn't there only one of those master keys left?" Setsuki asked.

"Yeah, if you need me to unlock something, just pull me aside and I'll unlock it for you. Don't worry about it." Akira said, Setsuki nodding.

"Why are we investigating the entire school?" Naoki asked.

"Pretty much getting as much dirt on Monokuma as we possibly can." Akira explained. "If we want to beat Monokuma at his own game, we have to bring everything to the table."

"So… We're gonna prove that Emi didn't kill Rio. But… Does that make him do anything? What's he gonna do, kill himself?" Haru asked.

"I think Monokuma has a precedent in following his own rules. He insisted Emi killed Rio despite the fact… he was completely full of shit." Akira said.

"Yeah, but.. Couldn't he just throw out the trial and just kill all of us?" Setsuki asked, but Airi shook her head.

"Do you think someone would spend this much time and effort to make such a stupidly expensive, elaborate killing game just to throw it out when their mad? They wanna win, with their own rules." Airi replied. "If this were a killing game were just some psycho in his basement, then confronting them would mean they'd kill us. But I think we have the edge." she said, Akira nodding in agreement.

"Plus we've got someone looking for us." Akira said, the others looking at her with shock.

"W-we do?! Who?!" Setsuki asked, getting closer to Akira's face. Akira put a hand on Setsuki's forehead, slowly pushing her back.

"Whoa, whoa. Easy, Setsuki. It's not a done deal, but Airi's been working for a group that's been trying to stop the Killing Game. I got into a chat with one of the members of the group, the Future Foundation." Akira began.

"What if it was a fake chat?" Naoki asked, concern in his voice.

"We used a burst transmitter that travels through 15 different IPs or something before I could talk to them. It only works once… It bricked itself after I got done using it. And the 11037 that Shiro wrote must've been the code to unlock it. We got it in Airi's office." Akira explained.

"Yeah, but what if Monokuma put it there for you to use it!?" Naoki pressed further.

"I… I'm not sure, actually. It was our only shot, so I'm going to believe in it. You can't doubt a boat to safety if one shows up." Akira argued, somewhat taken by surprise at first.

"Right! Any boat in a port!" Setsuki said with an outstretched finger.

"That's 'any port in a storm' but close enough. Anyways, Komaru and Akira exchanged photos to confirm each other's identities, so I'd say it's safe to trust Akira's word on this. They even held up clocks to confirm it was live messaging between the two of them. But… they know the general area we're in and forming a rescue team."

"...Aren't you blind?" Naoki asked.

"She told me everything I needed to know. I might be blind, but I'm not an idiot." Airi said.

"The Mastermind is apparently part of this group of weirdos who idolize this girl named Junko Enoshima. That's who the statue is of in the entrance to the trial room. They're apparently not the only ones, either." Akira explained.  
"I feel like I should know her. But I don't." Yukiji replied, hugging his knees to his chest.

"That's because of the memory altering drug we were administered. Apparently we were all injected with it. It's why Airi forgot her mission." Akira explained. "Anyway… She's the progenitor of these killing game thingies. I guess her actions made a legacy. I assume this plan we're making is how the people in the first killing game defeated her."

"So, we challenge Monokuma to a class trial. Bring definitive proof he fucking lied during the first class trial. Monokuma ends up guilty, we tell him to suck it, and ride off in Komaru's helicopter. Got it!" Haru said, pumping his fist, Kiko letting out a happy bark.

"Now to wait twelve hours…" Yukiji said a little laugh.

"I'm serious about no one leaving this room until Monokuma turns off… I'm sick of getting tricked and lied to! Monokuma almost killed my dog. And I want revenge, goddamnit!" Haru shouted.

"Wow, Haru's got a fire lit in him. It's kinda inspiring." Setsuki said, Akira nodding and pounding her open palm.

"That's the spirit, guys! We can beat Monokuma together!" Akira said enthusiastically, putting her hand in the center. Everyone joined in, though Naoki was still unsure as he put his hand in. Kiko put her paw on top, letting out a determined 'arf!'

"Uhh… in 12 hours." Yukiji said.

"Stop reminding we have to sit here 12 hours, okay? Look. I brought water, okay? I woulda brought animal crackers or something if I knew people would complain this much." Haru groused.

"At least you didn't get Monoreos." Naoki said with a chuckle.

The next few hours did take a while, it was full of campfire stories, naps, bathroom breaks, and Haru making sure no one saw that he still had a nailgun in his reach. Eventually, Akira sat beside Haru, as Naoki and Yukiji were now 27 matches into a serious bout of rock, paper, scissors and Airi was busy tolerating Setsuki's existence.

"Haru, I feel like an asshole for not talking to you guys the last week. I'm sorry if I left you guys on your own with… everyone's grief… I turned taking care of Airi into a job, and shirked my responsibilities as everyone's friend." Akira said, leaning back on her pillow with a wrist resting on her knee

"It's fine… you really didn't want to be around me anyway…" Haru said, voice weakening.

"Huh? What do you mean?" Akira replied, looking concerned. Haru gently set his dog down, and let her scamper off to mess up his blankets by biting into them and rolling back and forth to turn itself into a wad of blankets with a dog in the middle.

"After Kenji died… I was just angry. I was angry at Monokuma for killing him. Angry at you for voting for him. Angry at everyone that we had to vote for him, cuz I was worried we wouldn't all vote, and end up with more people dying. And I was… angry at myself for failing him…" Haru said, sniffling a bit.

"You didn't fail him, Haru. What makes you think you did?" Akira asked.

"I couldn't be the friend he needed. I couldn't be Yukata for him. I couldn't be Emi for him… I just.. I made things worse." Haru said, pulling down his bandana to cover his eyes. "He was always there for us and whenever he needed me, I'd just sit back and watch! When Emi died, Yukata was right there for him! Hana was there for him! When they died, I should've stepped up and talked to him, been there to for them! I could've stopped him, Akira! Him and Shiro would still be here!"

Akira looked at Haru, surprised. He had always seemed like a pillar of strength, standing tall and proud against everything the school threw at him. She never thought she would see him in such a vulnerable place.

"I just.. I had to listen to them. And I fucking didn't. I got tired of the fighting, so I selfishly ignored them. I thought it would pass cuz there was no motive that time. But I didn't do my job. I didn't help! I felt so fucking useless. Kenji was suspicious of Shiro cuz I confronted him the last class trial. I let those thoughts linger in his head without ever apologizing to either of them."

"I didn't really like Shiro. He was an asshole, he caused fights, and he killed Akami. But… I did nothing to fix any of that. I loved Kenji like a brother, I could fucking FEEL that even though both our memories were wiped! Shiro wanted to help, Kenji wanted to help, but I just split everyone apart because I'm an idiot and wanted to believe in good vs evil. What the fuck's good and evil anymore?" Haru said, just burying his face into his hand and shaking his head. Akira just sat there, not entirely sure what to say.

Platitudes about hopes and dreams are nice when someone's feeling blue… But Haru felt broken. And she felt like saying something generic like 'you'll feel better' isn't only unhelpful… it was insulting. So she just put her hand on his shoulder while she tried to process what he was saying.

"...We can't change our mistakes. Haru." Akira said, wondering if she was going to make things better or worse. "Even if we prove Monokuma wrong… We can't undo all the things we've done and seen. And… I truly can't help you with that feeling that you failed Kenji, because I can't really bring back Kenji either." Akira started, taking pauses to try and choose her words carefully.

"But… You didn't fail everyone, Haru. There are people who still need you, people you need to hang on to with dear life and do everything you can... to make sure you don't ever have to feel that loss again." Akira said, pushing her hand and pulling him closer to her for a one armed hug. "If we lived our lives constantly wondering about all the mistakes we've made… We'll be dead before we can change any of them." Akira continued, feeling her eyes well up as she spoke.

"We have to move on, and do the best we can to stay together… So the people who died know that we're strong with them in our hearts. That we can move on, even with the grief and sorrow we all feel. That… life is worth holding on to what you have, and never forgetting who you lost, Haru. It's not hope… It's love and understanding that will get us out of here together." Akira said, with a somber smile.

"Loss is the price of life, Haru, but… Don't let that price kill you. Hang on to what you have, you're a good person…" Akira said, starting to cry.

Haru returned the hug, pulling Akira in close. Neither of the two said anything for a long time, just staying there in each other's company while they waited for the hours to burn away. It was weird to feel time pass, but the room was still lit in that striking bright fluorescent lighting, the windows barred with metal so no natural light could set in. When suddenly…

 _Ding Dong, Bing Bong._

Everyone turned their heads to the monitor overlooking Haru's bed. The screen turned on to show… Nothing. A chair sitting in the darkness with no one in it, and nothing but the subtle noise of a microphone that was on, but not picking up any words.

"Wait… where is he?" Naoki asked.

"He's… he's not in the chair." Setsuki pointed out.

"Did it work?" Haru asked, standing up and feeling his legs creak in pain from sitting around for so long. The monitor then shut off after five minutes of silence.

"Let's get outta here!" Setsuki cheered, but Haru held out a hand.

"Under NO circumstances do you let anyone out of your sight. Stay in a group, got it!? Don't let anyone turn Monokuma back on!" Haru shouted, Akira running over to help Airi to her feet and to the door as Haru began to slowly pry the nails off the board he set on the door with a hammer.

"So it's uhh… me, Airi and Akira, right?" Yukiji asked, getting a nod from Haru.

"Right. Me, Setsuki and Naoki are Team B!" Haru said, pressing his foot against the door as he continued to pull at the board, Setsuki walking up to grab onto it as well and pull with her fingers, the board finally snapping off and rendering the door fully unlocked again.

Haru opened the door with Setsuki, then both of them seemed to freeze in place out of shock. "W-woah…" Haru muttered out with wide eyes. As Akira, Airi, Naoki and Yukiji exited the room as well.

It was the strangest scene one could imagine. The entire building had a monokuma standing at every corner, each one repeating the same 'Please reactivate due to inactivity' phrase in different orders, turning into a strange robotic chorus of deactivated Monokumas.

"So it's true… One of us is the mastermind." Haru surmised, Akira adjusting her tie tighter before she spoke.

"We need to take this opportunity to investigate the school. We have no other choice." Akira ordered, looking behind her. "And… Since one of you is the mastermind. I swear on the lives of everyone who've died that we'll catch you!"


	63. Chapter 6, Defiant Life 1

Chapter 6: Vanity of Justice (Defiant Life 1)

"Y'know, I think we're gonna need some food. Bottled water's cool, but we shoulda got something to eat, Haru." Setsuki said, bumping her elbow against his side.

"Fine fine, I forgot, okay? Leave me alone. Let's just go to the vending machine." Haru said, rifling through his pouch for Monocoins, finding it empty. "Uhh… someone's gonna need to cover it. I spent most of my coins on the water."

Setsuki sighed, pulling out a small bag of Monocoins from her pocket. "I had some because I wanted to play more of that light gun game in the bunker. But since we're planning on leaving anyway… Here." Setsuki explained, tossing everyone four monocoins.

"Oh, Semi-Auto Justice. I'll miss you." Setsuki said, as the others grabbed coins from her and went to the vending machine on the same floor as the dorms. It had candy bars, crackers, and a small variety of other snacks to pick from.

"What do you want, Airi?" Naoki asked, getting a groan from her.

"I'm blind. I literally have no idea what I'd be getting." Airi pointed out.

"Oh. Woops." Naoki said with a chuckle before picking out a box of animal crackers and handing it to Airi. Naoki picked more Monoreos, because while they bothered him on a spiritual level, they still tasted pretty good. Setsuki got a Crunch Bar, Haru got a pack of chicken flavored crackers that Kiko could also eat.

Akira grabbed a blueberry fruit and grain bar. Yukiji eyed the vending machine with a look of annoyance. "Hrm… there's no KitKats…" he said.

"I think that's because he put them all in your lab." Akira guessed.

"You're right." Yukiji said, pulling a Kitkat bar from his pocket.

"Y-you had one already!?" Akira said, surprised he was complaining.

"I wanted two." Yukiji said, scratching the back of his head.

"We were in there for 12 hours!" Akira argued.

"I bring a lot of KitKats with me, Akira. That's life." Yukiji said with a shrug.

"Why didn't you eat it in the room?!" Akira asked, puzzled greatly by this.

"I was saving this one for later." He replied, taking a bite out of the wafered candy.

"Yukiji… I… why can't I be more angry at you?!" Akira shouted, throwing her hands up.

"Besides, a KitKat only splits four ways. There wouldn't be enough for six of us. To cut it into 6ths would be heresy." Yukiji explained.

"Heresy's Kisses! Woop!" Setsuki cheered the very moment she thought of that pun.

"If I could see you, I would smack you." Airi said, nibbling on the head of a giraffe.

"Shut up n' eat your giraffe." Setsuki complained back at her, who continued to take bites out of her animal crackers.

"The giraffe had a family, I took that away from him as easy as I can breathe." Airi said, trying to make her voice sound ominous.

"...Airi made a joke. Run for your lives!" Setsuki exclaimed, flailing her arms.

"Stop it, you." Airi said, reaching into the cracker box and grabbing an elephant.

"So where do we start in this investigation thingy?" Setsuki asked, Akira began to tap her cheek.

"I want to solve Rio's murder proper. I feel like it's a good opportunity to come to terms with the situation we're in." Akira started to explain. "The mastermind has an extensive set of tools and pathways he can use to get around the school. So we have to find any alternate paths, or ways to get to different rooms that we can't. He can always claim that no one else saw him if we just pretend he used the hallway."

"I don't really see any hidden cracks in the walls or anything." Haru replied.

"That just makes me think maybe alternate pathways can open using the mastermind's control room. We need to inspect down there when we have time." Akira said. "But for now, we're starting back at the showers."

"...By the way, why do we keep calling the Mastermind 'he' if we're equal part guys and girls?" Setsuki asked Akira, who just shrugged.

"I dunno. I've just been using 'he' because Monokuma has a male-ish voice. I could be wrong. Shiro also said something about the mastermind most likely being a guy." Akira continued, which just made Haru sigh.

"Man, I ain't masterminding a goddamn thing. This seems complicated and I don't feel like it." Haru started, getting a chuckle from Akira.

"What do you think we'll find at the showers? Emi dumped the body down the trash chute into the showers, right?" Yukiji questioned Akira. "That would mean everything before that would be the real culprit, and not Emi."

"Yeah, but it's ground floor. I wanna go from bottom to top in this place, then move to other buildings in the school." Akira replied. "We'll have team B check the theater. I don't know if there'll be anything there, but I want to be thorough. Setsuki, do you think you can handle being in there?" Akira asked, concerned. Setsuki gave a thumbs up.

"No problem, KiKi! Haru, Naoki! Let's get to it!" Setsuki exclaimed, running for the stairs, Haru and Naoki following her. Akira lead Airi and Yukata down the stairs as well, down to the showers. Inside, everything had been cleaned away from Rio's murder, with only some lingering blood dried into the grout.

"It sorta looks like how I thought it would, actually. We know where the trash chute comes from…" Akira said, looking up into the chute.

"And this is where Kenji found the bolts from Emi's trap, right? The three that were still in the wall?" Yukiji asked, Akira nodding in response.

"Right, and Wakako found the other two in Emi's room." Akira said. "But… I wanna know if those were really the ones used in the wall. Three had the dust of the drywall on it. But the others were in the toilet and most likely washed it off."

"That sounds rather airtight." Airi said, folding her arms across her chest. "I think unless we find proof that there were more bolts than the five that were used, we should assume there was always five bolts." she concluded, getting a succinct nod from the police cadet.

"I guess I suspected there'd be more down here."Akira said with a shrug.

"Unfortunately, I suspect that we will be running into a lot of dead ends during this investigation." Airi said.

"Yeah but… I wanna find everything. Usually when I investigate a murder, there's like 2-3 rooms tops. But… This could be a whole school depending on how complicated the mastermind made pinning the murder on Emi was." Akira replied, frustrated.

"Then we take it one step at a time." Yukiji said. "Sometimes the best strategies are only done with one turn of forethought. Let's just try to be thorough and figure out what we should look at next." He said, eating another piece of a KitKat.

"Then I guess the second floor is next." Akira said, putting her hands in her pockets. "One thing I never got to look at was Rio's room. I want to dress it down to the staples in the floor." She said, walking out of the room with the other two following her. "You okay with walking around this much, Airi?" She quickly asked.

"I'm pretty sure I know where I'm going. We're heading up the stairs and to Rio's room, which is one of the rooms on the left." She replied. Akira giving a light nod as she quickly marched back up the stairs. And went into Rio's bedroom.

"Naoki sleeps in this room since he joined us, right?" Airi asked, getting a nod from Akira.

"Yeah, we thought giving him his own bedroom made sense… and we weren't gonna use it anyway." Akira continued, inspecting his room and seeing just how… standard it was. Naoki did nothing to customize it, and it was empty anyway.

"Looks normal to me…" Yukiji mentioned, as Akira started to look around the bedroom, grabbing the covers of the blanket on the bed and slowly pulled them back. The comforter and the top sheet were both intact, so she reached to the corners, grabbing the bedsheet and pulling it off to reveal that there was a slash mark on the mattress.

"Hey, guys, Look at this! ...I mean Yukiji. Sorry, Airi." Akira shouted before correcting herself, Yukiji walking up to rub his hand along the mattress.

"Someone cut into the mattress." Yukiji said, Akira reaching her hand into the slash mark and pushing her finger into it to feel how deep it went until it hit her knuckle, going even deeper than that.

"And it's deep. Deep like a knife was stabbed into it." Akira said, pulling her hand away.

"Didn't Shiro say the guy in the mask was holding a knife?" Airi asked. Akira nodded.

"Yeah… I'd say a kitchen Knife. About 9 inches long, or maybe a little more." Akira replied, turning to face her.

"We need to go to the Kitchen." Akira ordered, getting ready to head out and back down the stairs and to the dining room. Heading to the back of it and opening the kitchen door.

The thing Akira heard when she opened the kitchen doors was… not pleasant. There were about 15 MonoKaterers in the kitchen, all wearing chef hats and repeating the phrase it announced when it was deactivated.

"Welp. This is annoying." Airi spoke with a little sigh, cupping her hands over her ears. The trio began looking through the kitchen, seeing a food prep station, several stoves, rows of cutting boards, dishwashers and sinks, boxes of fresh fruits and drawers full of silverware. They began checking the drawers to see if there was anything that could match the murder weapon until Yukiji came across a rack of cutlery on a wall mount.

"Hey. Knives." Yukiji said, looking at each one as Akira stopped to put down a cheese grater before walking up to stand beside him. She mentally cursed that she had never gone into the kitchen to categorize the supplies, because a full count of knives would've been beneficial.

"There is a space missing for one of the knives. But… We don't know if there was a knife there, or if it's the kind of knife we'd need." Akira said, pulling the knife next to the empty space to inspect it.

It was a smaller ceramic paring knife with a MonoKing logo emblazoned on both the handle in white text, and the blade itself was white, with the logo in black text. Akira took a mental note of it, and sat it back onto the knife rack.

"Airi, try to remember the MonoKing branding on the knife. If we find another with that, it's from this collection of knives…" Akira asked her partner, who nodded her head. "It's also a ceramic knife, apparently. The blade is white, so I guess it isn't metal." She said, turning around.

"Right, back to the second floor." Akira stated, the group heading back up the stairs.

"I remember there being something about a seventeenth dorm room. Did anyone figure that out?" Airi asked. Akira grabbed her master key and decided to see if there was a way to open it. Walking up, pressing the key into the lock and twisting it, hearing the tumblers latch and opening the door… to find the room just completely empty.

There was no carpet, and it was filled with cobwebs. There wasn't even a bathroom like the other dorm rooms. It was just completely cleared out.

"Oh. It's just an empty room, weird." Akira said, somewhat disappointed by the lack of evidence.

"A college wouldn't have 17 dorms and everyone else wouldn't have one. There would be an entire dorm facility." Airi explained. "It was probably converted into dorm rooms by Monokuma."

Akira sighed, nodding her head and closing the door, before taking that key back and placing it in her pocket.

"...Why make this room empty?" Yukiji asked,

"The mastermind just needed 16 rooms to turn into dorms. There was an extra one, but I don't think he wanted to use it." Airi replied.

"Yeah. I was kind of wondering why an entire college would only have 16 dorms."Akira said, eyes scanning the room in its entirety before she shut the door. "Nothing… but why hide an empty room?"

"Because he wanted 16 students, not 17. I was the outlier. When I showed up, he stuffed Naoki in a box to torture one of his 'enemies' since I work for Future Foundation." Airi said as they walked off.

"That or he wanted someone killed for trying to break a lock to an empty room…" Yukiji guessed.

"What do you mean?" Akira asked, Yukiji pulling out his Monopad.

"Hrm… ah! There we go. Regulation #12: The students are free to explore the academy as they see fit, but are not allowed to break any locks that another student hasn't locked themselves." Yukiji read aloud. "If the mastermind had an empty dorm room that was constantly locked, he could always use it as a carrot to lure a target and then kill them for violating the rules. Pretty much stomping on anyone who would be curious about what's inside this empty room."

"That's… kind of fucked up." Airi said.

"So you break a lock to open a door to a room that has nothing inside it. You die full of disappointment that you just lost your life for absolutely nothing." Yukiji explained further. "That's the kind of person we're dealing with."

"The sunovabitch is crafty, I'll give him that. That's why we're checking the whole university. I want no stone unturned. We're having to match wits with someone who has plans layered on top of each other and if we fail, we could all end up dead." Akira said.

"Right, so where are we going?" Yukiji asked.

"I guess we're looking for the missing knife, who knows where the hell the mastermind would put that." Akira said.

"It would have to be somewhere no one would go to… but in this school, where would we have never gone?" Airi asked, the three walking down the stairs.

"I can think of a couple of places off the top of my head. Once a murder happened in the school we'd tend not to go to that person's lab once the trial was over. Be it bad memories, or just it feeling disrespectful to end up in a dead person's lab." Akira explained, Airi giving a light nod.

"So. Which labs do you have in mind when you say they were labs we didn't really use?" Airi asked, Akira starting to think as she leaned on the wall.

"The ones we haven't visited… the ones we haven't used much… and the ones that it would be easy to hide things in." Akira replied. "So… Off the top of my head, Kenji's lab, Rio's lab, and Dahlia's labs are all places we haven't visited in a long time. Bam's lab, and Akami's labs are both very neat, and Hana's lab is nearly empty barring basketball equipment." Akira continued, eliminating options off the top of her head as unlikely candidates to hide a murder weapon.

"Same goes for Shiro and my lab. They're pretty open spaces, it's hard to hide a thing in there." Yukiji replied, as Akira tried to logically cut out how much they would have to search.

"Maybe he hid it in the fourth floor that no one could access?" Yukiji mentioned, Akira rubbing her chin.

"Yeah, that's true… We'll search the fourth floor after we check all the labs." Airi replied.

"Miho's lab is just a gym. Reiko's lab might be worth visiting, Setsuki's lab is just a small skate park. And Airi stripped down her lab already." Akira added to her mental checklist.

"Rio, Kenji, Reiko, and Dahlia's labs are the most likely rooms to have a knife hidden in them. Let's start there!" Akira said, marching down the stairs and out the double doors back to the campus to begin to search the labs. 


	64. Chapter 6: Defiant Life 2

Chapter 6: Vanity of Justice (Defiant Life 2)

Akira, Airi and Yukiji arrived at the lab building together. "So, which one should we start with?" Yukiji asked. Akira thinking things over again.

"I'm thinking we'll start with Dahlia's, then Reiko's, Kenji's, and Rio's. I feel like the last one is most likely, but I don't wanna jump the gun." Akira said, hands on her hips.

"Saving the best for last I presume?" Airi replied, getting a chuckle out of Akira.

"N-no. I just… haven't been in there yet. You haven't either… So I'm not sure how you can navigate it while blind."

"I'll manage. Let's start with Dahlia already…" Airi said, the three of them walking inside while Akira took several key cards from the basket near the front desk.

"Wouldn't it be Wakako's lab?" Yukiji countered.

"Monokuma made it for Dahlia. So it's Dahlia's lab, not Wakako's. I imagine Wakako would have a… different layout than Dahlias, since she was just a fan of stageplays and not a weird vampire." Akira explained.

"Ah, I see. Dahlia's it is, then. We're looking for a ceramic knife, right?" Yukiji asked.

"Yeah. Everything else doesn't matter. The mastermind hid this somewhere before we all even could enter this building. Though the reason I picked Kenji's is he has so much crap in his he might have misplaced a knife in there." Akira said, walking up the stairs to the second floor.

"Why Reiko's?" Airi asked.

"Uhh… I don't think I ever went into Reiko's lab… I'm just checking in case it might be there." Akira replied, as they made it to the door to Dahlia's lab and scanned the card key to open the door.

"Welp. Let's get started, look for a MonoKing ceramic knife." Akira stated, Yukiji and Airi walking into the lab just before she did.

"How am I supposed to look for it when I can't see?" Airi asked, a bit annoyed at her condition.

"Uhh… Just feel around I guess. Sorry, I'm not used to you being blind." Akira replied, a little embarrassed as they looked around the candlelit lab for the fake vampire queen. Yukiji looked disturbed to be in this room, looking around while his back clung to the wall.

A few minutes past, and Akira looked over the fake coffin, all the fancy gothic furniture and old books, and while there were a few stakes, there wasn't a single knife in the room. So the three quickly closed the investigation, and locked the door behind them.

"Nothing, huh?" Akira said, both of her investigation partners shaking their heads.

"Welp… Reiko's it is, then." She added, heading further down the hall to Reiko's lab, getting greeted by the mini bike shop she called a lab. "Same thing as before. Ceramic knife, got it?" She announced, the three once again searching the room. They mostly found tools for bike repairs, unopened cans of Panta and a box of pizza, only half of the slices eaten and a pile of crust sat in a corner of the box, along with a half finished motorcycle in the center of the room, hanging from a chain from the ceiling, but once again, there was no knife to be found.

"Damn it, I was really hoping we wouldn't have to look through Kenji's…" Akira said with a sigh. "How does one guy get a room that messy…?" she asked as they left Reiko's lab and headed for the first floor. Akira pulled out Kenji's keycard and opened up to find the disorganized jumble of junk, eye twitching.

"Yukiji… I hate this…" Akira said as she stepped in. "I just… I know we have to find this knife, but I just wanna take everything out of this room and sort it aaaAAH!" Akira exclaimed as she tripped over a loose cord on the floor, sending a massive pile of gadgets, tools, dishwashers, a microwave, and overall a bunch of general crap onto her body, piling so high it almost blocked the entire door.

"...What was that!?" Airi shouted out, Yukiji just looked wide eyed as Airi ran off to deal with whatever threat that was. "We're under attack!"

"Airi. Wait. Come back." Yukiji said, about to run… before just walking after her at his normal pace.

Akira was underneath a massive pile of junk, pinned to the floor as entire shelves of crap and appliances were piled atop of her.

"...I hate this." Akira muttered, struggling and squirming through the clutter. "Airi! Yukiji! Uhh… You guys there!?" Akira muttered, muffled by the sound of being stuck underneath a bunch of useless shit Kenji collected. "A little help?"

"...Goddamnit." Akira complained, pushing a microwave off of the pile and hearing it smack against the wall as she struggled to climb out of the pile. She pushed through the garbage, managing to free her upper torso. Akira surveyed the debris; A microwave, a dishwasher, a baseball field painter… Akira growled in anger, grabbing the dish washer and throwing it up behind her head.

"I HATE YOU, DISHWASHER! DIE IN A FIRE!" Akira cried out, hearing it slam somewhere behind her. She snapped her attention to what else was in the way. The microwave, a lawn mower, Monokuma, A surfboard…

"Wait. A Monokuma!?" Akira stammered, shocked to find one in the junk pile.

"Hi." Monokuma said with a casual wave of his paw.

"Y-you're on!?" Akira said, rolling out of the pile and landing in front of him, freeing herself from the trash.

"Yep. I got turned back on." Monokuma announced, his voice very easygoing and breezy compared to the usual.

"...H-How!?" Akira said, her face crunching a bit out of anger.

"Someone turned me back on. How is that hard?" Monokuma said, giving a handwave.

"But we planned so none of us could get away from each other!" Akira said, punching her hand against one of the walls, before realizing she had to dodge a falling TV.

"Haru sucked at his job. You suck at your job too, both of you lost your charges and they ended up wandering off, sooo… Nailed it. Good job." Monokuma said, giving her a thumbs up. "Anyway. I get what you're trying to do."

"Get what I'm trying to do?" Akira asked, confused by what the bear had in mind.

"Yeah. I get it." Monokuma said, holding a paw out. "Ya wanna prove I killed Emi, get me all riled up and go 'oh no' and I reveal myself and Komaru rides in with a helicopter and rescue you guys. Right?" Monokuma guessed, Akira scowling silently at the bear.

"Thought I was right." Monokuma said, before clearing his throat. "Honestly? It would be kind of smug of me to say you can't prove that I killed Emi. Buuut… Since it's you, and you're good at getting on my nerves. I actually do think you can figure it out." Monokuma explained. "Well, unless you're stupider than I thought."

"So you're going to back down from the retrial? I knew you were a coward." Akira said, clenching her fist hard enough to turn her knuckles white. "You know I can prove it. And that's why you don't want a trial…" Akira said, pointing at him accusingly.

"Oh. In fact I DO want a trial! I just… Feel like you place your bet on the table… and I have to choose between checking your bet, or raising the ante. And I want that jackpot, Akira. I want the risk… And I want to make you feel like this is your last chance." Monokuma warned, his voice cold.

"So the trial's on even if you think I already know how to prove you wrong!?" Akira shouted at him.

"Oh, it's not just about proving the murder wrong! It's your opportunity at freedom. If you answer my ante… If you accept my high risk bet… And accept the consequences of your failure? Then maybe I'll consider a retrial." Monokuma offered.

"What's the bet?" Akira asked warily.

"Well… Lemme tell you what you risk before I play my hand. If you succeed at this trial… I'll give up, and you can leave with all your friends." Monokuma started. "But… If you fail this. I'll kill you."

"Just me?" Akira inquired, not liking the sound of this.

"Yeah. Just you. And the rest of your friends can never have a class trial for the rest of their lives. They'll be trapped here! With me! They won't ever see the real world again! They'll be stuck on this campus until they day they die…" Monokuma said, eyes narrowing. "The Killing Game will be over, and they can either live here, or kill themselves knowing their final hope failed just like Kenji failed. There will be no graduation, and this will become The Ultimate Prison Life! A fate worse than death!" Monokuma announced.

Akira glowered, taking a second to take a deep breath before replying. "Fine. I'll do it. If it gets us out, I'll do it." she said, Monokuma giving off a wicked chuckle.

"Your job is to simply solve the Killing Game." Monokuma sated, flashing his claws.

"The Killing Game?" Akira asked.

"Yes… The why you're here… the how you're here… all of it. Figure out who the mastermind is, figure out what I did, and figure out why I did it. If you can pin that down… You win my wager, and your friends will get to walk out." Monokuma explained. "Buuuut… I'll make a side bet. Something I can reap if you win my bet."

"What's that?" Akira said, clearly annoyed at this point.

"If you solve the killing game, you won't want to leave. If I'm right about that… You can always choose to give up and live the prison life with your cute little friends. Maybe Yukiji could marry you if you talk to him enough…" He said with a gleeful giggle.

"I don't want to leave? Why the fuck would I ever choose to stay!?" Akira stated, bewildered.

"Figure that out yourself, cupcake. I'll leave you to it. All the rooms are unlocked now! But I'll still not let you look at my control console. That's where I live!" Monokuma shot back, pointing at her. "Don't worry, you don't need that to figure out all the clues." he said, cackling throughout Kenji's lab before pausing.

"Oh, and the knife's in Rio's lab. Might as well save you some time." Monokuma stated before quickly vanishing.

Akira reached for the closest object, tossing it at the spot where Monokuma stood. "Damn bear... I need to find Airi and Yukiji." She said, climbing out of the room and closing the door behind her as Yukiji came running back around the corner.

"Akira!" Yukiji cried out.

"Y-Yukiji! What happened?!" Akira asked, eyes wide with shock and worry.

"Airi's in the bathroom!" Yukiji exclaimed, coming to a stop and panting.

"...What?" Akira said, tilting her head.

"Yeah.. Uhh.. I went to look for her and she was in the bathroom. Uhh… Using it." Yukiji said, face turning red.

"But she thought someone attacked her!" Akira exclaimed, confused.

"I thought that, but I figured I was wrong and went to use the bathroom. Then Yukiji barged in before I was... done." Airi said, clearly annoyed by this.

"I was worried… I didn't mean to…" Yukiji muttered, not wanting her to be upset with him.

"Right. Whatever you say." Airi replied sarcastically.

"I thought you said not to split up! Monokuma is reactivated!" Akira cried out. "Now we're all suspicious! Our plan blew up in our faces!"

"I'm sorry about that." Airi replied, crossing her arms and looking away. "You can't activate a Monokuma from the bathroom… And Yukiji knows exactly what I was doing." Airi complained, Yukiji taking a step back to appear less threatening, now acting like a small mouse.

"I'm sorry… Don't hate me." Yukiji said, voice getting smaller. "Akira said we have to stick together…" Yukiji said, taking a step back every couple of words. "And I-I promise I didn't look… a-at anything..."

Airi just glared in the direction of his voice before clearing her throat. "I'm just going to change the subject now. Monokuma's active?" Airi asked, trying to pretend that bathroom incident didn't happen.

"Yeah… He spoke to me while I was digging out of Kenji's… stuff pile." Akira replied, rubbing the side of her arm. 

"What did he say? He doesn't know, does he?" Yukiji asked.

"He knows… and he wants us to investigate anyway." Akira stated. "He wanted us to try and figure out the entire Killing Game and the secret of the mastermind. But… he told us it was a wager." She explained.

"A wager?" Airi asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Yeah. If we get it right, we can leave, but if we can't… I'll die, and the killing game ends."

"So wait, does the killing game end then even if you die?" Yukiji asked, confused. "Does that mean we leave anyway?"

"You won't be able to leave the school, the killing game shuts down and this school becomes a prison the moment I die. There can't even be a class trial… I'll be dead, and you'll all be here until you die."

"W-what!?" Yukiji stammered out, eyes wide and shaking.

"I said I agreed… But I want to see if you guys are okay with this too." Akira said, cautiously.

"I'm still saying that rescuing everyone is my responsibility. I have no choice but to agree." Airi replied, crossing her arms under her chest, her hawk like gaze remaining despite her lack of sight.

"Is this a good idea, Akira…?" Yukiji asked, nervous. Akira gently walking up to him and putting a hand on his shoulder.

"Just believe in me, alright? I'll do my best to get you out of here." Akira said reassuringly, before taking a deep breath. "We'll find the knife in Rio's lab. Once we do… I feel like we should tell Haru and everyone else that Monokuma is following through with the final class trial." Akira explained. Getting a light nod from Yukiji.

"I… I guess we have to find the knife." He replied, turning to Akira as they got ready to enter Rio's lab next, find their knife, and explain the plan to everyone else.

They entered Rio's lab, which was a rustic, wooden room adorned with jewels, maps of cave systems drawn by hand, and a single knife sitting on a table, illuminated by a single map.

"Why did no one find this knife before?" Akira asked, picking it up to inspect it. It was a white blade ceramic knife, with a black handle. The text on it wrote 'MonoKing' on both the handle, and the blade itself.

"You can't find something if you aren't looking for it." Airi replied, standing beside her. Akira took the knife with her as she turned back and went to find Haru in the theater.


	65. Chapter 6: Defiant Life 3

Chapter 6 Vanity of Justice: (Defiant Life 3)

Akira, Airi and Yukiji arrived at the front of the theater as Haru stood leaning against the lobby with a frustrated look on his face, when he noticed Akira out the side of his eye.

"Hey Haru." Akira said, putting a hand on her hip as she walked up to him. Haru was clenching a fist out of frustration when he stood up straight to reply.

"Hey… I don't know how, but Monokuma got reactivated." Haru muttered out, crossing his arms. "I lost sight of Naoki and Setsuki, and Monokuma turned back on to ridicule us. I'm sorry." Haru added, Akira putting a hand on his shoulder.

"I uhh… I lost Yukiji and Airi for a bit. So honestly I should be the one apologizing I pretty much made it so we can't figure out who the mastermind is by catching them wandering off." Akira replied, laughing nervously. Haru just smiled a bit and shook his head.

"Eh… If I took into account all the screw ups I've made… My list would be just as long as yours, Akira." He replied, before narrowing his gaze. "Though, I don't think there's anything related to Rio's murder in the theater. Sorry." He simply stated.

"I found the murder weapon, so it's fine… But I also found out something else. Where's Naoki and Setsuki?" Akira asked, as Yukiji and Airi approached up behind her.

"In the theater. I told them to take a break after Monokuma showed up again." Haru explained, Akira gently nodding her head.

"Call them here, I want to make an announcement." Akira asked of the dog trainer. He leaned down, letting Kiko hop onto his shoulder as he turned away and went through the double doors to call on his investigation partners.

Soon, Setsuki and Naoki entered the room, the 6 standing in a small circle as Akira took a deep breath. "I think I might have enough to show that Rio was chased down the hall by someone wielding a knife." Akira started.

"I just… I wish we had the tape Shiro saw. We have nothing to base this on if anyone can corroborate the evidence." Airi replied, shaking her head.

"So.. uhh.. Did you find something? Monokuma reactivated and we haven't found a dang thing." Setsuki complained, Akira getting a small nod.

"Yeah… Monokuma found out. But he told us to continue the investigation."

"Huh? He wants us to continue the investigation? Why?" Naoki asked.

"He… He wagered us to investigate how this killing game started. And if we fail, he'll kill me." Akira put it bluntly, getting confused whispering between her friends.

"He'll… Kill you? Doesn't Monokuma say he'll kill all of us if we get it wrong?" Naoki replied, Akira sighing gently in response. "N-not trying to say it's not as bad. But why just you?"

"I guess me dying is a metaphor about despair or something. He wants you guys to hold that burden as the second part of the punishment. The killing game ending."

"...Isn't the Killing Game ending a good thing?" Naoki asked.

"Not when you're trapped in the school, and killing someone won't cause a class trial. You'll be trapped here until you die from old age or suicide, and I'll be dead. He saw how badly we all took Kenji's death, and he thinks doing the same to me will finish his ultimate goal. Make you guys give up on ever having hope again." Akira explained. 

"Sounds about right." Naoki said with a sigh. "So… What are we supposed to do now?" Naoki asked Akira.

"I want to go to the fourth floor again and see how much I could find about the history of the school, and what happened to us during the months before the Killing Game. That, and how the class shooting went down." Akira explained, grabbing a cup and filling it full of lemonade for her to drink and carry with her. "Then, I think we should investigate the bunker again. I think there were some rooms we missed while we were looking for Shiro." Akira said, sipping some of the lemonade to quench her throat from all the talking she's been doing lately.

"I guess that makes sense." Haru added.

"So… should we go with you?" Naoki asked.

"Actually, I think just Airi and I would be fine. If there's too much crowding around the computer I might have trouble paying attention to reading stuff. That, and Airi knows computers and I might need her help." Akira replied. "Even if she's blind, she has all these hacking techniques burned into her brain I bet."

"Kind of." Airi chimed in.

"A-are you sure? Won't we fail if we all don't work together?" Setsuki asked, Akira shaking her head.

"No… I have faith in you guys, and I feel like you guys should believe in me too. I'll get answers, for all of us." Akira promised, clenching her fist. "I'll find out what's going on, and when the trial's up, we'll be ready."

Setsuki smiled and bumped Akira's clenched fist. 

"We'll be waiting for you at the elevator, gurl. You and Airi kick some ass." Setsuki said with a grin. "If anyone here can do it, it's you two." Setsuki smiled infectiously, causing the others to smile.

"We won't let you guys down." Airi said confidently, joining Akira on the way out of the theater. The two made haste heading back to the dorm room, and back up to the desecrated fourth floor of the school, and back to the original computer lab.

Akira pulled out a chair and sat in it in front of the single computer that still worked, turning it on and opening the web browser. Akira looked back to see Airi pull a chair and sit beside her. "Airi, we're not connected to the internet, right?" Akira asked, getting a quiet nod from her.

"Yeah. The server has a lot of web page data saved on it, so while it looks like we're looking at websites, the image hosting servers will be down, and all we'll see is the archived version of each website available on the server." Airi replied as Akira typed in the main web page for Future Crest's main page, heading back to where they were before, back when the bunker motive started.

"Where should I start? I know you can't see… but I just feel like we should try and find everything we can on these servers before we go back to that bunker." Akira asked. Airi looked away for a second, deep in thought.

"Do you remember what Shiro said in that final recording? That Rio Daisuke died before the Killing Game started?" Airi mentioned, Akira nodding some.

"That was kind of weird…" Akira replied, scrolling the mouse down the web page slowly.

"And that would mean… Rio Daisuke was a fake, wouldn't it?" Akira asked back. "But… why would he lie?" She asked, shaking her head in frustration.

"I don't think he lied… I think maybe Wakako wasn't the only one who had another personality imposed on them." Airi replied, Akira suddenly realizing what that meant.

"I need to find the news section." Akira said, quickly scrolling to a tab that said recent news and waiting for the page to open. "Airi, how can I find out if Rio Daisuke died?" Akira asked.

"Hit the control key, and F. Then type Rio's name into it. Keep hitting the next button until we hit an article with his name." Airi explained, Akira following her command and pressing control and F, opening the search function.

"Rio… Daisuke." Akira said as she typed out, revealing there were a few mentions of his name. "Hey… He's on here!" She said out of excitement.

 _Student Killed In Car Accident and Memorial Service.  
10/14/2022  
Authored by Kaori Hanamaeda_

 _It is unfortunate news today that one of our freshman students, 18 year old Rio Daisuke was killed in an unfortunate car accident yesterday._

 _The Ultimate Lucky Student seemingly collapsed on the sidewalk, but before another student could come help him up, an unknown drunk driver swerved onto the sidewalk and ran him over, killing him instantly._

 _The culprit is still unknown, but the license plate for the black van is M92-54, if you have any information about this van, or were a witness to Rio's death please contact the police and relay information to them._

 _Remember not to use 110 to call the police because that is reserved for emergencies, instead, call the police department's main building. You can find these numbers in the phone directory._

 _3 days from now we'll have a service for him in the gymnasium, after his family and loved ones have a closed casket funeral for him._

"Wait. Something's weird about this article." Akira said, leaning closer to the screen and narrowing her eyes. "Why is Rio Daisuke the Ultimate Lucky Student? Is… Is that a typo?" She asked, Airi rubbing her chin.

"Indeed… Naoki said he was the Ultimate Lucky Student, and he never had his memory wiped. Akira, look up the Ultimate Lucky Student. See how many results you get." Airi said, Akira clearing the find bar and typing in the Ultimate Lucky Student title.

"Ultimate Lucky Student Drawing." Akira said, clicking the link and opening the web page.

 _This year's Ultimate Lucky Student drawing!  
Authored by Kaori Hanamaeda_  
 _3/15/2022_

 _Greetings students of Future Crest University. As tradition as a college tied to Hope's Peak academy, we are going to have our Ultimate Lucky Student drawing, from a pool of Ultimate Lucky Students from other high schools._

 _This year's winner is Naoki Tsukada!_

 _Image Deleted_

 _Wish him luck!_

"This one says Naoki Tsukada was the Ultimate Lucky Student." Akira said, Airi furrowing her brow as she started to feel confused.

"So… one says Naoki is the Lucky Student… And the other says it's Rio." She wondered aloud. "Did it say if Rio Daisuke is a sophomore? If there's one every year, maybe they can both be a Lucky Student." Airi explained, Akira going back to the first page.

"It says Rio was a freshman when he died…" Akira said, worried. Airi tapped her chin as she got lost in thought "They were both Lucky Students? But… Rio Daisuke was a Spelunker."

"What if someone changed the webpage?" Airi asked.

"How could someone do that?" Akira replied.

"You can edit some articles after they originally were posted to change the information on them. Maybe one of the versions of these articles has an edit in it to change the information we're looking at." Airi explained.

"How could we know if they did?" Akira asked. Airi simply stood from her chair, taking the keyboard from Akira as her hands began to type blindingly fast. An impressive feat for someone who couldn't see.

"I think I know a backdoor program that might help with this." Airi explained. "Most computers have it, but it's a hidden feature because it's pretty morally dubious. I'll need to get into the debug of this operating system to do it." Airi said, Akira looking confused as to how a blind girl could do all this.

"Have you done this before?" Akira asked, dumbfounded.

"Many times." Airi said confidently. "You see, when a hard drive is told to erase data, it isn't deleted. It's just marked as able to be overwritten. This means it can stay on the computer for a long time until every piece of the fragmented data is 100% overwritten. Most computers can't do that unless you fully defragment and copy over the information lost." Airi explained, using the mouse to click open a command prompt.

"Ontop of that, most websites will archive the original version of a web page and mark it as obsolete, but the actual data won't be erased on that server until it's full again. Combining these two together means I can roll back the date on this computer, and this server so we can look at the archived version of this web page to see if there's any edits from the latest version." Airi explained, hitting enter as a massive amount of white text on a black background filled the command prompt screen.

"What day did the article for the Ultimate Lucky Student say it was released?" Airi asked, Akira blinking a bit before replying.

"March 15th, 2022." She explained, Airi typing in that date, when the web page reloaded. The calendar set to 3/15 as Airi stood back up to let Akira take over.

"Find that article again." Airi ordered, Akira nodding and typing into the search function again for Ultimate Lucky Student, getting another copy of the article.

 _This year's Ultimate Lucky Student drawing!  
Authored by Kaori Hanamaeda_  
 _3/15/2022_

 _Greetings students of Future Crest University. As tradition as a college tied to Hope's Peak academy, we are going to have our Ultimate Lucky Student drawing, from a pool of Ultimate Lucky Students from other high schools._

 _This year's winner is Tennosuke Koda!_

 _Image Deleted_

 _Wish him luck!_

"T-Tennosuke Koda!? Who's that?" Akira stammered out, confused by the change. Airi got down on one knee so she could take over the keyboard when she needed to.

"Someone who's neither Rio Daisuke, or Naoki Tsukada. Why was he the Ultimate Lucky student, and why was it changed in the later versions of this article?" Airi asked, before taking the keyboard from Akira and moving forward a single day, then quickly reloading the page.

 _This year's Ultimate Lucky Student drawing!  
Authored by Kaori Hanamaeda_  
 _3/15/2022_

 _Greetings students of Future Crest University. As tradition as a college tied to Hope's Peak academy, we are going to have our Ultimate Lucky Student drawing, from a pool of Ultimate Lucky Students from other high schools._

 _This year's winner is Naoki Tsukada!_

 _Image Deleted_

 _Wish him luck!_

"Wait. ONE day after Tennosuke was announced, Naoki replaced him!?" Akira replied, getting a look of shock from Airi. Airi moved the archive date forward another week, before handing it off to the police cadet.

"Someone changed it." Airi replied, wide eyed. "Someone changed the result." Airi opened another tab and searched for 'Tennosuke Koda' on the search menu. "Akira. Find an article about Tennosuke Koda." She ordered, getting a quiet nod from Akira.

 _ALERT: Student Kidnapped  
Written by: Masato Inoue  
3/18/2022_

 _We would like to report to the rest of our students an incident that has taken place within a few blocks of the school. A reserve course student who was joining our school in a few weeks has been kidnapped at the local Gum-Mart, a corner market most of our students enjoy going to. The archived footage the store had sent shows several men in black kidnapping him and placing them in a black van. We've added the footage in the link below in hopes that you can be a help to the local police in finding this student._

 _His name is Tennosuke Koda. Please contact the police department in the local directory to offer information if you see him, or any of his kidnappers._

Akira quickly clicked the link to see if it was available, and an archived footage version of the kidnapping loaded. Akira hesitating slightly before hitting the play button. 

The footage is grainy and the actual position of Tennosuke was far away enough that Akira couldn't get a good look at his face. The footage is in black in white, and the date was listed as 3/17/2022. Tennosuke was taking a drink from a bottle as a black van pulled up in the background.

In the blink of an eye, the van opened up and a small group of figures dressed all in black hopped out of the van and approaching Tennosuke quickly. He started to walk away briskly, when one of the men in black grabbed him by his wrist. Tennosuke threw a punch which was ducked as another man stabbed him in the stomach. Tennosuke appeared to squirm with pain, a third man clobbering him upside the head with a baseball bat to knock him out. The men dragged Tennosuke into the van, driving off at full speed. Then the video ended.

"Tennosuke was kidnapped…" Akira said, shocked. "Then the Ultimate Lucky Student was replaced with Naoki." She said, shaking her head.

"And the other article says Rio was the lucky student. All three were listed as The Ultimate Lucky Student. Something's wrong." Airi flatly replied.

"Naoki said he was imprisoned by Monokuma for about 6 months. Do you think that was to nurse the stab wound?" Akira asked, though it made Airi just confused.

"Naoki? Don't you mean Tennosuke?" she asked, scratching her head.

"I'm thinking Naoki might be Tennosuke. That would make Rio actually Naoki, and the real Rio died." Akira said, trying to piece it together. "If Naoki had his identity changed by the mastermind… He might really be Tennosuke."

"...That just sounds confusing." Airi said. "Why does Naoki remember everything if he's Tennosuke?"

"It might be linked to the fact some memories stay as phantoms. Like the reason Wakako was still infatuated with Yukiji despite her personality change. Or… he was re-educated by Monokuma to think he was Naoki after Rio died.

"Now it just sounds like a clusterfuck." Airi replied. "I think this might be important, but I don't think we know enough to figure this out yet." She added.

"I think we might need to wrap this up. I can't seem to find another article about Naoki, Rio, or Tennosuke. It looks like Tennosuke was never found…" Akira said, powering off the computer and standing back up.

"So it looks like we have to investigate the bunker next. The laptop the headmaster had was the same one we used to contact Komaru." Airi explained.

"Yeah… And that one doesn't have an internet connection." Akira sighed out.

"And it was probably confiscated after we used it. We did sit in a room for 12 hours with Haru afterward." Airi clarified. "We could always ask Monokuma if he took that laptop."

"I don't want to call that stupid bear." Akira complained as she began to exit the room, and head to the bunker for the next part of the investigation. Airi stood up after her, following her out of the room.

"True, plus I doubt he'll help us when the ultimate goal of the trial is his defeat." Airi said.

"Yeah… but he said something strange to me after he offered that wager." Akira replied. "He said… Even if we find out who he is, and defeat him… We'll not want to leave the school anyway."

"He's probably just trying to get in your head. Whatever he says is out there, it can't be all that bad. Komaru's looking for us, after all. The Future Foundation is out there to help us." Airi said to reassure Akira.

"I just… I want this to work, Airi. We've been losing this whole fucking time… If I can even save one of you, risking my life is worth it." Akira said as they came upon the door to the bunker.


	66. Chapter 6: Defiant Life 4

Chapter 6: Vanity of Justice (Defiant Life 4)

"Wait up, KiKi! Ai-Spy!" Setsuki called from behind the two of them as the rest of the students approached the exit of the dorms and were about to exit back to the campus.

"Huh? Setsuki? What are you guys doing? I thought you were gonna be at the elevator." Akira said, Setsuki and Yukiji catching up to them.

"We're… here to help…" Yukiji said, catching his breath. "We saw you heading for the bunker and we knew we'd be more of a help than with the computer."

"Yeah! We're gonna take down Monokuma down!" Haru exclaimed, pounding his fist into his hand while Kiko gave an excited bark on his shoulder.

"I wasn't too sure about this myself, but curiosity got the better of me. I still wanna know what went down here." Naoki said.

"Thanks, guys. Let's get to it!" Akira said, turning to the bunker door and opening it. The students headed down into the bunker and toward the kitchen. Akira walked over to the hatch in the center, opening up and stopping. "I forgot about the climb down. We're gonna need-" Akira said, Setsuki shoving a flashlight into her hands.

"Flashlights, got it!" Setsuki said, tossing flashlights to everyone.

"I'm surprised you thought ahead like that." Airi said with a smile.

"Sometimes my brain runs on Hype and I unlock the intelligence of the universe. Y'know, it's a thing." Setsuki said, tapping the butt of a flashlight against her temple.

"...What?" Airi asked, stunned.

"Just go with it, girl! We've got flashlights." Setsuki declared, handing Airi a flashlight.

"...Why are you giving me a flashlight?" Airi asked

"To see in the dark!" Setsuki announced, waving the flashlight.

"I'm blind." Airi replied.

"..." Setsuki stared blankly at her in response.

"..." Airi just waited for Setsuki to say something as the awkward thickened in the room.

"...Ohhhhhhh." Setsuki said as the realization hit her, sheepishly taking the flashlight away.

"So, what are we gonna do about Airi? I can't imagine it'll be easy to climb a ladder without eyes." Naoki pointed out before Airi suddenly grabbed onto his shoulders. "Ack! Airi! What are you doing?! Are you a parrot now!?"

"I'm climbing onto Haru's back. He should strong enough to carry me down." Airi said, wrapping a leg around Naoki's waist sending Naoki falling onto the floor.

"I'm not Haru!" Naoki shouted.

"Oh. I was wondering why he seemed really thin all of a sudden." Airi said, tilting her head.

"Get off my back!" Naoki complained, struggling under Airi.

"Stop moving around so much so I can get off your back!" Airi shot back as they wrestled in a pile. Yukiji moved to help separate them, Kiko hopping off Haru's shoulder and barking toward Airi's ear.

"Hm? What's the matter, Kiko?" Airi asked, slowly getting up. Kiko bit into her pant leg, pulling into Haru's direction. "Ah, follow you. Got it."

Airi followed Kiko as the pom dragged her over to Haru, who was crouched down to allow the Ultimate Spy to better climb on. Airi latched to his shoulders and around his front as Haru just laughed awkwardly. Kiko scrambled onto Airi's shoulder. "Alright, Kiko. You're the Seeing-Airi Dog, then." Haru said with a hearty laugh. Airi gave Haru a light kick to the ribs.

"Quit it." Airi shot back.

"Never." Haru replied as he began climbing down the ladder, the rest following them. Most of Shiro's blood had been cleaned from the rungs of the ladder, barring a few dry specs. The group, after several minutes of climbing, made it to the floor.

Akira dusted off her pants before turning her flashlight on to spotlight the thin railway and figure out which splits they've investigated already. "We just need to check out the rooms we haven't gone to yet." she said.

"Hrm… LLR was the trial room, meaning we can skip that. LLL was the equipment room, which might have something hidden in it. LRL was the Monokuma Control Room. We'll need to go there. LRR was the morgue, which will only have preserved bodies…" Airi recalled.

"We'll need to go there." Akira said.

"Why do we have to go to the m-m-morgue!?" Setsuki shouted, bewildered.

"There was something bothering me that I learned using the computer. I have to…" Akira took a moment, realizing the sentence she was about to say. "Look at someone's body. It's important."

"Didn't think you were into that, Akira." Haru said with a chuckle at his own joke, but Akira just turned and squinted at him.

"Time and place, Haru! I'm serious!" she shouted back. "And on the right?" she asked, turning to Naoki.

"Uh… I think right… left, right? Yeah, I think that's right. Oh wait, no! RIght, left, left was some sort of weird factory. We took a look at it while you were investigating. But it got weird and I decided not to go inside." Naoki explained

"Did you see any other rooms, Naoki?" she pressed further.

"Uh… no, I think you guys found Shiro around that point. Oh, there's another room. It was full of props. I… Oh. Shit." Naoki just realized something, causing Akira to become more concerned.

"What is it?" Akira asked, keeping her light on Naoki.

"The prop room had those mannequins that killed Kenji, but like… before Monokuma used them. I didn't realize that when I saw them!" Naoki said, nearly dropping his flashlight in shock. "Yukiji saw that too, right Yukiji?"

"Yeah. I peeked… The mannequins seemed familiar when I saw them attack Kenji. That might be why." Yukiji said, shutting his eyes to try not to think of the mannequins again.

"We'll have to look in that room too. I need to know if there's anything in that room." Akira said. "And there's probably other rooms we never saw we'll need to look at. No stone unturned."

"Alright, so where are we headed first?" Airi asked, stepping off of Haru's back while Kiko held a small flashlight in her mouth.

"Hrm… we'll start with the last two rooms on the right. I want to know what's inside them." Akira said, heading down for where the railings forked, the other five following behind as quick as they could. The path forked again, Akira heading right again. Soon came the last fork, Akira darting left. They stopped at the end of the path, Akira feeling a heat in her lungs from all the running they had done just to get to the first room they had set to investigate. She pressed her and against the door, taking deep breaths before opening it.

Inside was a circular room with a cylindrical chamber in the center. The walls were lined with holes, each hole with a brass plate, each one with a flashing red label over it listing various rooms, such as 'Dorms, Pool Facility, Hospital 1F' and more.

"Hrm… Are these some kind of transport for the mastermind?" Akira asked.

"It could be a trash chute or somethin'. Like the one on the third floor." Setsuki said, climbing into one of the holes.

"Uhh… Setsuki, why're you climbing into it?" Haru asked.

"Adventure!" Setsuki said. Akira realizing the moment Setsuki climbed in and rushing to grab her legs.

"S-Setsuki! You don't know where that goes! Don't be an idiot!" She shouted, running to grab her ankles, when an aperture closed and cut off Akira from grabbing her ankles.

"ADVENTURE!" Setsuki shouted as the students heard the sound of air pumping out quickly, Setsuki's excited holler fading away as she was launched with a *fwooomp!*

"Wh-where the hell did she go?!" Naoki asked, Yukiji looking up at the plaque.

"It says she went into the gym." Yukiji said, tapping at the closed shutters with his knuckles.

"Is she gonna be alright?" Haru asked when they heard Setsuki's voice slowly fade back in, reverberating from the tubes as the aperture opened.

"COMIN' IN HOT!" Setsuki shouted as she slid out of the hole, everyone stepping out of the way except for Airi. Setsuki slamming right into her and making the spy land on her bottom. 

"Ow." Airi deadpanned.

"Uhh… my bad!" Setsuki said, chuckling and rubbing the back of her head.

"Setsuki… how and why do you find the dumbest possible way to do something?" Airi asked as she pulled herself up.

"I'm a pro." Setsuki said with pride, jumping back to her feet. "Man, I dunno why the Mastermind even bothers with a Killing Game. That shit's fun! I'd be doing that all day!"

"What's it like?" Yukiji asked, looking over the hole to the theater.

"It's like getting shot of an air cannon when you go up, but it's like a big slide when you go down!" Setsuki explained in a chipper tone. Yukiji then climbed in, Akira was going to stop him, and just sighed in defeat.

"Whee." Yukiji said, chipper but in his usual docile tone. Another thump of the air cannon launching the chess master up the tube and got launched to the theater.

"Look, I know we're kind of doing a more casual investigation but are we really taking a break to go up and down slides?" Akira asked, confused.

"You gotta make it fun, Akira. Life isn't always getting down to the facts." Haru replied with a smile.

"At least someone wasn't murdered this time." Setsuki added. Haru went to load him and his dog into the chute leading to the pool room.

"LOAD THE FUCK CANNON!" Haru announced, launching himself out as Yukiji slid back in on his butt. Naoki and Akira just looked at Haru in confusion.

"You okay, Yukiji?" Akira asked, Yukiji just smiled at her.

"I am complete." he said with a voice full of whimsy. After a few seconds, Haru came back down with Kiko riding on his head.

"Alright, back to investigating." Haru said, Kiko giving a playful bark as her tail wagged like a blur behind her. Akira just chuckled and shook her head.

"I think that this is the major way the mastermind could show up without long gaps of them being missing. Making it pretty easy to blend in with us and always be nearby." Akira stated.

"This whole thing is really complicated." Setsuki replied as Akira tucked her hands in her pockets and went back out to the walkway to see what room they should head to next.

They stopped at the previous branch, heading right to the next room. Once inside, they saw the walls and floor were covered in patches of dried blood with large saws mounted on the walls. In the back of the room, there was a large freezer with syringes and blood packs, along with blue curtains covering up beds for surgery, a sign made of metal and blood read CHOP SHOP just above the freezer.

"This whole place reeks of blood…" Airi said, scrunching her nose.

"Oh God… I-I think I'm gonna be sick…" Naoki gasped out, covering his mouth.

"I got a bad feeling about this place… But it feels important." Akira said, walking forward to look at the other shelves in the room, stopping when she looked at the freezer with the blood packs and syringes. She leaned down, opening the door and watching as the air condensed into water, causing a fog to roll onto the ground. She grabbed a syringe, protected in plastic to make it hard to stab yourself. She also looked at the packs of blood… Each one had the name of a student on it, and their blood type. Akira looked at some of them, each name having about 4-5 packs with their names on it.

 _Akira: A+_

 _Haru: O+_

 _Airi: AB+  
Setsuki: B+  
Yukiji: B-  
Naoki: O-  
Kenji: O+_

"The mastermind's been harvesting our blood…" Akira said, somewhat shaken by that information. It had blood for the rest of the students as well, but Akira then looked at the syringe in her hand. _  
_

She closed the door and inspected it in her hand.

 _THA15X7-B  
'Orpheus'_

 _Instructions:  
Use of this will erase around 6 months of the subject's memories. There's a period of about 5 minutes once the subject passes out that their memories may be coded by the power of suggestion._

 _Overuse can cause emotional instability, including extreme episodes of mania, fear, and panic, it may result in death or brain damage._

"This is what Komaru told me about…" Akira said, swishing the syringe gently as white fluid slowly shifted from side to side inside. "Orpheus… the drug that altered our memories." she said, gripping it in her hand and setting it back into the freezer, Setsuki walked up and leaned over her shoulder.

"This whole place is messed up… I guess that's how Monokuma got our medical stuff, huh. I bet he knows I'm allergic to penicillin." Setsuki commented.

"He drugged us, and harvested our blood. I… What else could he have done to our bodies?" Akira asked herself, worried.

"Please don't make me think about that." Setsuki said, clearly worried on the implications of not remembering a large chunk of her life and being experimented on.

"...Let's leave." Akira suddenly said, turning around and wanting to shake that room from her memory. The next room she wanted to attempt to investigate was the cluttered storage room, where Kenji found the crowbar.

The small group of students followed her into the room as she closed the door behind her. "Oh god… Not this again." She complained as the room seemed just as messy as Kenji's lab. At least this one had some leg space in it.

"What are we looking for in here?" Naoki asked, Akira started to look to the floor, thinking deeply on what she needed to find.

"I just want to see if the mastermind could have used something in here to help chase Rio." She said, starting to open boxes and search through piles of crap to find something she was looking for. She did eventually find something related to the first murder as she pulled out a black and orange Lucha mask.

"Hey… Here's a mask with the HAVOC logo on it." Akira said, turning back to show Setsuki and Haru.

"...Why a lucha mask?" Haru asked, picking it up to inspect it.

"Luchadores wore masks to protect their identities. I'm guessing this was just to hide the person wielding the knife from the cameras." She said, as Haru put on the mask.

"It's weird. It looked like it had no eye holes, but it has a mesh in it." Haru said, his voice now distorted by microphone near the mouth of the mask. "And I sound like Darth Vader!" He said with a little chuckle. But Akira took the mask back off and held it in her hands. "Hey!"

"I think we only have a few more rooms to go. I'm starting to see things just a bit more clearly." Akira said, determined as she stepped off to go to the next stop, the morgue.


	67. Chapter 6: Defiant Life 5

Chapter 6: Vanity Of Justice (Defiant Life 5)

The students came up to the morgue door, Akira going in with little hesitation. If she even wavered slightly, she'd probably have thoughts of running away from this. Of giving up without looking back. She had to do this with her nerves steeled. She shone her flashlight over the nameplates over the doors, looking for one name.

 _R. Daisuke_

Akira pulled out Kenji's key, unlocking the drawer and opening it up. She pulled the handle until it clicked, Rio's body laid out on the slide, completely nude except for a white sheet on top of him. Akira grabbed the sheet with a shaky hand, dragging the sheet down to reveal his pale, frozen and discolored chest, when suddenly she felt something on the back of her throat.

Akira had to fight herself from nearly throwing up. There was a difference between a body that just died and… this.

"W-why are we looking at Rio's body!?" Setsuki asked, clearly upset by this.

Akira fought her gag reflex, slapping both sides of her face to snap her out of it as she stood back up, pulling the blanket around Rio's waist. "There's something I have to check… Something that might change what happened when the killing game truly started…" She replied, looking at his stomach to show that there wasn't a wound, a scratch or a scar on it. Akira's eyes widened some as she slowly pushed the drawer back shut, locking it again as she looked at the floor.

"We need to get out of here." Akira said, marching out of the room and shunting against Setsuki's side, before Akira went to vomit over the edge of the railing.

"You okay, Akira?" Haru asked, patting her on the back once she was done throwing up.

"Y-yeah… I just don't really think I've ever had to do that before." She said, wiping off her mouth as her eyes teared up from the painful vomiting sensation her body welled up.

"So, was there a scar?" Airi asked rather bluntly.

"N-no… nothing... he's not-" Akira said, eyes suddenly widening. Without warning, Akira pulled up the front of her shirt, pressing her hand against her exposed skin. "T-then who was it!?" she clamored out, feeling her stomach as there wasn't a scar on it either.

"Calm down, Akira." Airi said, reaching out for Akira in the darkness. She got a hold of Akira's shoulder, but Akira immediately jumped Airi, sending them to the floor and pressing a palm to her stomach.

"It could be any one of us! The Orpheus drug said that we can be talked into anything once we pass out from the drug! Any one of us could be Tennosuke!" Akira shouted, Airi lying there and resisting any reflexive urge to counter and put Akira in a hold for attacking.

"Wasn't Tennosuke a guy? It's a guy's name. C-can you get off?" Airi replied, lightly pushing on one of her shoulders..

"Akira's also technically a guy's name." Yukiji pointed out, seeing the two girls tumbling on the floor.

"I couldn't tell from the footage. It was too dark." Akira said, feeling a few scratches on Airi, but nothing that could come from the knife that was stuck into Tennosuke.

"...Who the hell's Tennosuke?" Haru asked.

"Naoki! Take off your shirt!" Akira shouted.

"W-what!?" Naoki asked, baffled.

"Akira, you have to explain things, stop jumping people!" Airi shouted.

"It has to be one of us! Someone with a scar on their stomach. Everyone, take your shirts off!" Akira said, voice cracking with panic.

"...Okay, Akira's being weird." Setsuki said, looking away from embarrassment.

"This is important! I have to know! I have to!" Akira cried out, but Airi responded by just slapping her in the face.

"Calm the hell down. Yes, whoever Tennosuke is has a scar on their stomach… But you're flipping the fuck out and I don't think that's a good way to get people to trust you. " Airi warned, but Akira grabbed Airi by her collar, pulling her closer.

"I have to know! We're doomed if I do-" Akira shouted, desperately 

"Go take a walk." Airi snapped back at her, before forcing Akira back to her feet.

"Y-yeah… Take a walk." Akira replied, tucking her hands into her pockets and walked off from the rest of the group, her hands shaking the whole time as she pulled one out to look at her quivering palm, coated in her own sweat.

"What's going on…? Why am I panicking now?" Akira asked herself. "I didn't panic even when Kenji died. W-why now!?" Akira shouted, kicking a wall in frustration. "Goddamnit!"

"I can't… Everyone's relying on me. Why can't I keep it together the only fucking moment I need to?!" Akira said, starting to cry, dropping to both her knees and clutching her knuckles until she felt her nails digging in her palm.

Her heartbeat was in her throat as she sat on the floor for nearly ten minutes, before she could get the strength to stand back up.

Akira marched back to the morgue, catching from the side of her eye as Airi was making her way to another room to lead the investigation despite her blindness as Akira grabbed each drawer, pulling them open with a desperate anger. Every single body so far, all 11 of them covered in the same blanket Rio had.

"I have to know…" Akira said, her voice raspy and desperate as she started with the first few bodies…that weren't Rio's. Looking at Emi's and Bam's.

Emi's body was crudely sewn back together with wounds on both her wrists and legs. But… on her stomach, there was no old scar.

Bam's body was the same case. His body barren of scars except for the damage he had on his head. Akira took a deep breath and closed both of the drawers to look at the next ones. Wakako, Akami and… Miho's.

Wakako had holes in several places, and even more concerning, injection scars on both of her elbow pits and wrists. Akira sighed, looking at her stomach next to see that once again, it had no scars.

Akami only had the scars on his wrists and neck, nothing on his stomach either. Akira's hands tightened into fists and she now had to look at Miho's body. Pulling back the sheet to see the horrified expression frozen on Miho's face. Akira choked up on more tears, looking away to take another deep breath and instead look at her stomach.

Nothing. Again. None of the students she's seen so far could have been Tennosuke. She quickly covered Miho with her sheet and shut her back into the drawer. Next were Reiko, Yukata and Hana.

Reiko's body was extremely damaged. The amount of gore Akira was seeing made her want to give up this desperate attempt, but she couldn't. She recalled where Tennosuke was stabbed in the video, the side of his stomach, just above the waist. And once again, nothing was found. Even among the burns and other scars marking Reiko's body, nothing on the side.

Yukata only had the hole where the poisoned dart had struck his chest, and all Hana had was the bruise on her neck.

The next were the last two. Kenji and Shiro. Both of their lights were lit to show that both bodies had been occupied in their drawers. She opened Shiro's drawer first. Shiro's body was now clean, still missing two fingers and with wounds on his neck, flecks of blood from his mouth and on the back of his head. But his body bore no scars on the stomach.

Kenji's body had no wounds, but the bones in his body were crushed, including a large amount of internal bleeding dying his torso red and purple. And yet, he had no scar. None of the students who died were Tennosuke.

She and Airi weren't Tennosuke, neither had the scar, meaning that one of the other four students could have been kidnapped by HAVOC to replace either Rio or Naoki.

Akira closed the drawers and washed her hands, before leaving the room to join up with the others.

"So uhh.. Everything okay?" Setsuki asked, Akira nodding gently.

"Yeah.. What are we looking at now?" Akira asked.

"This is the room Naoki was talking about. The weird factory one." Haru said as Akira stepped into the room. She got a good look at the factory, seeing lines of conveyor belts with Monokumas lying on their backs, along with various chambers with each part to put in the bear. Though the machine wasn't active at the time. There was a small computer at the front with a microphone sticking out of it. There was a huge bin of Monokumas that were sitting either inactive, or were just plushies.

"...I don't know why but finding a Monokuma making machine is stressing me the fuck out." Haru said. "It's like he's got so many of him that we can't possibly kill him, ya know?"

"Yeah.. To kill him we'd have to blow up the whole school." Setsuki said.

"I'm hoping we won't have to go that far…" Akira said as she looked over the unfinished Monokumas, chests open with exposed parts and wires. She then turned to the computer and microphone stand. "Hrm… Why does the computer have a microphone on it?" Akira asked.

"Maybe you need to turn it on with the microphone." Haru said, walking up to the screen and hitting the blank buttons. "It doesn't turn on when I hit it." He said, leaning down to grab the microphone in his hands.

"Main screen, turn on!" Haru announced into the microphone. "Get signal!" Haru tried another phrase, getting nothing in response. "Uh… Maybe it's broken."

"Maybe we need a certain word to turn it on." Akira said, walking over to it and taking the microphone, thinking over things she might think that are passwords.

"Uhh.. Make a Monokuma. Despair. Uhh… Puhuhu. Kenji is an idiot… What other stuff does he say…?" Setsuki asked. "What other stuff…" she said, tapping her chin.

"Rise and Shine." Akira said into the microphone. Getting a buzzer from the screen, but it did turn on. The computer itself didn't activated, it just said Akira's password was incorrect somehow."

"Is it Rise and Shine?" Setsuki asked.

"It might be. I heard someone say that to me while I was at the mastermind's computer. There was a microphone there, so I think it might have picked up that phrase." Akira explained, getting a few nods.

"Do you think it might require the person who's the mastermind to say it?" Setsuki asked.

"Let's give it a shot." Akira said, giving Setsuki the microphone.

"Rise and Shine! Make Monokuma Babies!" Setsuki shouted, just getting another buzz from the screen.

"Rise and shine." Airi said in a monotone, getting a buzz.

"Rise and Shine!" Haru shouted, another buzz.

"Rise and shine." Yukiji said, flinching as he was buzzed.

"You sure this is the right password, guys?" Naoki asked, walking up to the microphone next.

"There's no harm in trying it. Maybe it's the right password." Akira said, tilting the microphone toward his face.

"Didn't I say that when I was trying to talk to you at the control room?" Naoki asked, scratching his head.

"Yeah. I think so. Still… Try it. You'll be more suspicious if you don't want to."

"Here goes." Naoki said, taking a breath. "Rise and s-shine." he spoke, the machine buzzing him out as well.

"Maybe it's just the wrong password in general." Naoki said, sighing in defeat. Akira just sighed.

"If we can't turn it on then I don't think we can investigate this much." Airi stated.

"Right, so all we have left is the room where Monokuma kept the mannequins." Akira said, leaving the factory and to the final room in the bunker they've found so far. The sign stating that it's the execution room.

Inside was a dark room with a glossy black floor that was both wide and deep with various props used for both executions they could recognize, and executions for people who were still alive; the buzzsaw, slicked with blood. The crossbow and Monokuma Van Helsing's fake horse. The car that ran Reiko over. The mannequins of their fallen friends.

There was a giant chessboard of Monokuma-themed pieces with the space for the Black King left blank. A police car with spikes on the front, a massive ramp leading to a spiked pit, a bunch of robotic dogs with razor sharp teeth sleeping inside of cages, a strange laser device pointed at a bed with ankle restraints, and something called a 'death roulette', along with more executions for other students that weren't used.

"This place is… messed up. Super messed up." Setsuki said, wandering and looking at the strange devices. They soon reached the end of the showcase of horrors, coming upon a door with the words 'Video Archive' on a bolted nameplate on it. Akira unlocked the room and stepped in.

Inside was a room covered wall-to-wall in shelves full of plastic cases, each one labeled with a date and description. "God, I hope we didn't just find the Mastermind's porn collection…" Haru muttered.

"No… It looks like a mixture of student recordings and some recordings of closed circuit recordings. Like the schools news show. Each one has a date on it, too." Akira said, grabbing one of the cases and reading the label. This one is October 2018." She said, going down a few rows to the next few.

"And this one's November… Oh, they're in chronological order!" Naoki announced. "Let's see where these tapes end." he said, pulling cases and speed reading the dates on the labels.

"Find the latest ones." Akira ordered Naoki, who nodded and continued to go forward in dates. He soon came to the end of the recordings, grabbing the case off the shelf. "Christmas 2022 and… Despair Tape?"

"D-despair tape!?" Akira gasped out, grabbing the case from Naoki's hand. "N-no… this can't be!"

"The Despair Tape? The one Shiro and Yukata watched?" Airi asked, getting a shaky nod from Akira.

"Y-yeah… is there a TV in here?" Akira asked.

"Yeah, there is one, but it just has a VHS player on it." Naoki replied, rolling in a CRT television with a VHS player in it.

"...Who even uses VHS nowadays? Where can we watch these DVDs?" Setsuki asked.

"I thought we had an AV room." Airi stated.

"Yeah, on the second floor… I didn't think we had a good reason to use em until now." Haru replied to Airi.

"WE'RE TAKING THE TUBES!" Setsuki shouted, running out of the Archive. Akira tucked both DVD's under her arm as she ran after Setsuki, who already took a B-line to the chutes, climbing into the second floor main building shoot and launching herself with an excited cry of joy.

"...Man how the hell is Monokuma gonna make Setsuki despair? You give her a slide and she's the happiest girl in the world." Akira said, as the rest of the group made it into the room and the chute opened for the next person to climb into it. "Yukiji, help Airi over to the chute. We can't have her go last in case she ends up going into the wrong chute.

Airi sighed as Yukiji backed up against the tube Setsuki climbed into and cupped over his mouth to call her over.

"Alright, Airi. Come to the sound of my voice~." Yukiji called to her, just getting a frustrated expression as Airi walked toward the tube, feeling for where she can grab on, before partially climbing in.

"I feel like a child." She complained, sitting in the tube as it fired her up and out of the bunker, opening once again.

"I'm going in this time." Naoki said, climbing in next and sending him up shouting in fear.

When the next time it opened, Yukiji climbed in, sent flying within seconds. Haru was a tighter fit in the tube, but was launched as soon as he got all the way in. Kiko jumped in after Haru, letting out excited barks as she was launched. Akira was the last to enter the tube.

"How do I tell it I'm re-AHHHHHH!" Akira shouted as it suddenly fired a huge amount of air behind her, firing her up the smooth metal tube. After a few hundred feet of her body squeaking against the sides of the walls, she stumbled out of the tube in the wall, which quickly shut behind her, leaving the wall smooth, leaving no evidence that hole was even there to begin with.

"Hey! You made it." Setsuki said, catching the police cadet so she can regain her balance. "Let's go check out the DVD so we can confront Monokuma at the class trial!"

"Right." Akira said, taking a few slow steps to get her footing before heading for the A/V room. The room was full of monitors, each attached to a miniature DVD player. In the middle was the projector pointed to a screen on the wall. Akira plugged in and turned on the projector, putting in the disc.


	68. Chapter 6: Defiant Life 6

Chapter 6: Vanity Of Justice (Defiant Life 6)

The video began to play. "-stupid thing on? Oh, I got it!" Kenji said with a triumphant laugh as he turned the camera to his face. He wearing a Santa hat on his head as he gave a way. "Hey everybody! Kenji here!" he said with a weird head tilt and awkward open-mouth smile.

"Oh. And hi mom! Hi dad. I was gonna send you guys a personal Christmas message, but they got mad I was gonna hog the camera for myself… Soooo it's a Christmas message from everyone in my class. Hope ya don't mind. No one's here yet, so I'll just send this part to you guys when I edit it later." he explained as the video suddenly cut.

When it came back, Kenji was trying to keep the camera balanced, sweeping it across the room. Everyone watching saw that it was dining hall covered in decorations; tables lined with food, lights hanging from the walls, tinsel woven into the tablecloth and a huge christmas tree with a banner reading _Merry Christmas from Class 36_. "By the way, getting the light setting right in this room with this camera was a bitch." Kenji said with a chuckle..

"Oh yeah, you had a real hard time with just hitting the white balance…" Emi said, tilting her head on camera from the side. She was wearing a sky blue beanie on her head and a striped blue sweater. 

"The light balance didn't work! I tried it already. I had to do it manually, Emi." Kenji explained, turning the camera to look at Emi.

"But it's MY camera. I know how it works, silly." Emi said with a smile.

"Hey, you said you were tired from setting up the christmas lights. This is all your fault!" Kenji jokingly complained as Emi reached behind the camera and poked Kenji between the eyes.

"Stoppit." Emi said. "You lost the instruction book. Mom, you were right. Guys are hopeless…" Emi said, scratching her head.

"Y'know, Emi. I don't think your mom wants to hear you whining about your boyfriend instead of Christmas wishes." Kenji teased, Emi's face turning pink. "All I want for Christmas is my stupid boyfriend to stop bein' mean!" Kenji said in a singsong voice.

"I will drown you in the eggnog the second you put that camera down!" Emi threatened.

"Great, that means more filming! Who else is here?" Kenji said, turning away from the flustered carpenter.

"Keeeeeenji! Him and I will have the power to make this the greatest Christmas in the WORLD!" A deep voice announced, Kenji focusing on Bam, who had a megaphone.

"Oh God, who gave you that?" Kenji asked, horrorstruck.

"Setsuki! She knows what the power of vocal projection really means! Mama Mia!" Bam explained.

"Woop woop!" Setsuki cheered in the background, Bam turning to face her with the megaphone.

"Woop woop!" Bam shot back.

"Well, while I've got you here and blowing out the audio levels on Emi's camera-" Kenji started.

"HIT THE DRC BUTTON! IT'S ON THE BACK OF THE CAMERA!" Emi shouted from behind Kenji.

"Thank you! Whatever it does might work." Kenji chimed as he changed the volume.

"It makes loud stuff quieter and quieter stuff louder. Jeez… You're so hard headed sometimes." Emi complained.

"We had to stay up so every other class could have their soiree. Now that it's empty, we're just gonna hang out and have dinner." Kenji explained to whoever he intended on giving the video to later. "Anyway, Bam. You got anything to say to your folks back home?"

"A Merry Christmas to the Takahashi family! My dad's broadcasting the Red Sox games in Japanese! Go get 'em, Pops!" He said with a pump of his fist.

"Hell yeh! Merry Christmas, Mr. and Mrs. Takahashi!" Hana shouted, Kenji turning the camera to her.

"Hana! Why are you still in your basketball uniform?" Kenji asked, showing Hana in her sports uniform.

"A little cold ain't stopping my workout program! I gotta make sure my wonky leg is strong for next season." Hana said, jogging in place. "Merry Christmas, Mama! Merry Christmas, Papa! Merry Christmas to my brand new lil puppy, Kobe! Haru's doggies have such cute puppies." Hana said, waving to the camera.

"Speaking of, where is Haru?" Kenji asked, waving the camera until he saw Haru entering the dining hall in the brightest, ugliest christmas sweater physically imaginable, along with dog shaped slippers, Kiko sitting on his shoulder in a matching doggie sweater, batting at a bow stuck to her head.

"Sorry I'm late! Was with my boyfriend. He's kind of a wallflower, had to talk him into having dinner with my parents, jeez…" Haru said, setting Kiko down on the floor. Kenji looked at Kiko who ran over and rolled onto her back, shaking back and forth to take the bow off her head out of desperation.

"So we can rule out Ren joining us for this?" Kenji asked, getting a shrug from Haru.

"Sorry, he went to bed. He'll miss out on the chicken I bought us for dinner later."

"But you said you just had dinner!" Kenji complained to the dog trainer.

"I'm like two of you, Kenji. I need a lotta dinner." Haru shot back. "Plus, Kiko might be small, but she eats a lot too!"

"Fine, fiiine. You bought chicken?" Kenji replied.

"Yeah! Big ass buckets!" Haru exclaimed, opening the dining hall door and grabbed two large buckets of fried chicken. "Imma carry these to the table!" He said, marching off camera.

"I never got the whole Christmas KFC thing Japan started doing. But eh… I like chicken, so screw it I guess." Kenji commented, swinging the camera to the dining table as Haru placed the chicken on it.

"Sup, Reiko!" Kenji said, seeing Reiko leaning against the wall near the dining table, reading a biking magazine and ignoring him.

"Uhh. Reiko? Anything ya wanna say for Christmas?" Kenji asked her, hoping to get her attention the second time.

Reiko quietly flipped off the camera. "Guess she's in a bad mood tonight." Kenji said, turning away and over to Shiro who was sitting in a comfy chair by the tree and reading from a textbook. "How about you, Shiro? Got anything to say to your folks?"

"Kenji, please get that camera out of my face. I'm trying to study for the midterms." Shiro said, adjusting his glasses.

"C'mon, man. It's Christmas. It's your day off! Go play badminton or something or that'll make everyone else bored. You're not a fun vampire, are you?" Kenji teased. 

"The Japanese senate does not have days off. I cannot rest on my laurels." he said, not looking at Kenji once.

"...Man what do you even do on your days off?" Kenji complained.

"I do a lot of things. I stay in shape by going on half hour runs in the morning. And I study for upcoming tests. I'll play chess with Yukiji if I want something 'fun' to do, but really that's testing my linear thinking more than it's having fun."

"...Man politicians are boring." Kenji said.

"Bite me, Taisei." Shiro teased.

"Fiiine, I'll leave you alone, Ebenezer Shiro." Kenji shot back.

"...That pun hurt me." Shiro deadpanned. Kenji left Shiro alone at that point, a familiar high-pitched laugh picking up on the camera's microphone.

"O~hohoho! Such a delightful winter festival!" came Wakako's voice from Kenji's right.

"Oh God…" turning around to face her.

"You like, Kenji? I'm a christmas vampire~! It was Yukiji's idea." Wakako said with a smile. She was in the Dahlia outfit, but instead of red and black, it was red and green.

"You can't just combine Halloween and Christmas!" Kenji groused.

"Why not? Americans seem to do it every year." Wakako said, drinking punch from a vampire-themed stein. She gave Kenji a wide eyed look and swished the glass to make the punch swirl.

"I even brought a couple movies that are scary Christmas movies. You'll like them!" Wakako offered.

"...That sounds like the worst thing ever." Kenji argued. "You didn't buy the one with the wrestler playing Santa, did you?" Kenji asked, worried about having to watch a bad movie all night.

"How did you know? Perhaps you are the Ultimate Clairvoyant?" Wakako said with a coy smile.

"Oh no…" Kenji said said as Yukiji stepped into the shot from behind Wakako.

"Hi Kenji." Yukiji said, wearing corpse paint and an elf hat, along with pointy shoes and a fake bite mark on his neck.

"What are you even dressed as?" Kenji asked, confused.

"Thrall elf." Yukiji said matter-of-factly.

"...Why are you- I don't- What is- Wakako, you're ruining Christmas!" Kenji exclaimed.

"Oh, don't be so stuck in old ways, Kenji! Halloween was made of three different holidays! All Saints' Day, All Hallow's Day, and the eve of both. And Christmas was the combination of several German holi-" Wakako started on an information spree, Yukiji tugging on the sleeve of her dress.

"You explained that before, Wakako." Yukiji said, cutting off her stream of exposition.

"Woops. But yeah! It won't be the last time we combined holidays together. Yukiji and I wanted to get ahead of the trend. It's like that Tim Burton movie." Wakako clarified.

"This isn't a trend! This is just you being… you! All weird and junk!" Kenji objected.

"It's part of my charm." Wakako said, putting the back of her hand over her mouth and laughing her trademark laugh.

"Okay before I get forcibly dressed as a zombie reindeer, I'm gonna find Akira. Do you have anything you wanna say?" Kenji asked.

" Merry Christmas to everyone at Yukiji's old orphanage! The donation's in the mail." Wakako said.

"Donation?" Kenji asked. "You sent them a donation?"

"Of course!" Wakako exclaimed, jabbing a finger at the camera. "Kids need toys, and I had some spending money and got them some! Adults don't need toys, silly."

"I like toys, though." Yukiji said quietly.

"Okay, Yukiji wants toys. But not you, Kenji." Wakako said.

"...How about you, Yukiji?" Kenji asked, getting a small wave from the Ultimate Chessmaster.

"Merry Christmas, Ayase. And Merry Christmas to Wakako's step parents, too." He added.

Suddenly, the door slammed open and Kenji turned the camera again to see who it was.

"YOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Miho said, wearing a robe over her body, with Akira snugly wrapped around one of her arms.

"Miho! Hi!" Kenji cheered out. "How's it going?  
"She's drunk. Help." Akira said with an awkward laugh, not strong enough to escape Miho's squeeze on her.

"We made out!" Miho announced with a thumbs up and a wink.

"Don't tell everyone!" Akira said, shrinking smaller from embarrassment.

"Pffffffh." Emi could be heard laughing in the background.

"Then how 'bout I show them?" Miho asked, leaning in and planting a kiss on Akira's cheek.

"A-AH-Ahhh… Miho! Nooooo!" Akira cried out, squirming from shame.

"Shaddup n' get your kisses, gurl!" Miho said, laughing drunkenly.

"Will you stop?!" Akira exclaimed, laughing as well as she dragged Miho toward a table.

"Guess the date went well." Haru said, proudly putting his hands on his hips.

"...You mean the date you didn't set up!?" Kenji said incredulously.

"Hey, I'm a love doctor! Fate will give her the right partner! I just had to get the ball rolling." Haru snapped back.

"You had me and Kenji date different people! He has a girlfriend! ME!" Emi, Kenji turning the camera to see Emi jabbing her hands towards herself.

"I uhh… Shit. My bad. Look, I thought you guys wouldn't work out!" Haru said, desperately grasping for an excuse.

"We've been dating for four months!" Emi pointed out in frustration.

"You called me and told me he sucks!" Haru argued.

"Kenji always sucks! And I love him, dummy!" Emi said, annoyed.

"You suck! I love you too!" Kenji interjected.

"Bite me, Kenji! I'll beat you at Tekken later!" Emi said, pointing at the camera.

"You're on!" Kenji accepted her challenge, but Haru looked straight at Kenji.

"Hey hey hey. I wasn't the only guy who was setting up dates. Oh look, there he is now!" Haru said, forcing the camera to look at what appeared to be Rio and Yukata, sitting on a couch.

"I am staying as far away as possible on this one." Yukata said, falling back and behind the couch to sneak away from the camera. "You're on your own, dude!"

"...Damn it, Yukata." Rio said with a sigh, getting up and walking over to stand beside Haru.

"You two… are the WORST matchmakers ever. Shiro and Miho? Really? Me and Akira?" Kenji asked.

"Hey! I put a lot of work into who went with who!" Haru argued.

"We drew from a hat." Rio said.

"Don't tell him that!" Haru shouted.

"I got it on camera now! Ha! Gotcha, bitch." Kenji said triumphantly.

"Who you callin' a bitch, bitch?" Haru countered.

"That's like a doublebitch." Rio added.

"And that's not an insult!" Kenji argued.

"Kenji, I don't think that our families are gonna wanna hear you calling your friends bitch." Emi pointed out, laughing.

"My mom knows all the bad words I say!" Kenji protested. "SAY YOUR CHRISTMAS MESSAGES!"

"...Is that a good thing?" Rio asked.

"Message now!" Kenji shouted, startling Rio.

"Merry Christmas to all the boys down at the diamond mine. Hit those rocks and make some money!" he said, giving a thumbs up.

"Merry christmas, Mom n' dad! Kenji's being a dic-" Kenji turned the camera back to his face as he broke into a run.

"Good! Moving on! Get back here, Yukata!" Kenji said in a hurry.

"Kenji, you forgot to ask Akira for her christmas message!" Emi called, chasing after Kenji.

"She's busy macking on her girlfriend. We're hunting down Yukata! He's not escaping Christmas!" Kenji said, emboldened from chasing him down.

"Stop threatening people with Christmas!" Emi complained while following him.

"CHRISTMAS!" Kenji shouted in response, cornering Yukata as he quickly ducked behind Akami.

"...Uhh… What are you doing?" Akami asked. He was dressed in a set of his usual clothes, though with red, white and green on the scarf around his neck.

"Escaping fate." Yukata said. Kenji walking around to try and get behind Akami.

"Give me your christmas message, already." Kenji warned. Yukata just sighing and standing back up.

"Hi mom! Love you tons." Akami said with a sweet smile and a wave of his hand.

"Kenji… You don't chase down people during Christmas. Now I'm all outta breath…" Yukata said, putting his hands on his knees as he had to catch his breath.

"That's your fault for running from holiday cheer. Now say your christmas."

"Fine! Fine. Hi mom, hi dad. Merry christmas lil sis… I know last year was your last one, but you'll always have a Christmas until I give my last breath. I love you so much." Yukata said, slightly embarrassed from Kenji confronting him with a video camera.

"Was that so hard?" Kenji asked.

"It was when I'm being hunted like an animal!" Yukata cried.

"Look, we need to all send a message together so we can get front page on our school's website. C'mon. I also got Setsuki to hunt down, and maybe Akira and Miho when they uhh… get out from the mistletoe." Kenji said with a chuckle, the sound of a hard smack picking up. "Ow! Emi!"

"That was bad and you should feel bad." Emi said, sticking her tongue out.

"You hit me with a newspaper!" Kenji complained, rubbing the back of his head.

"Yeah! I did! Get bapped." Emi said, waving the newspaper at him.

"I'll bap you later…" Kenji muttered as they headed back to the dining hall. "Setsuki! Where are you, girl!?"

"Keeennnnn!" Setsuki called with a wave. "This Christmas party is so hype!" she said, offering a fist. She bumped fists with Kenji, Emi and Yukata.

"Thanks. Really glad it hasn't turned into an absolute disaster... Kinda. You got some Christmas wishes?" Kenji asked.

"Merry Christmas, Momma Yori! Don't forget to put the tree to the corner in January!" Setsuki said. "I know you keep leavin' the lights on even when it's spring, so don't forget, a'ight?" Setsuki said, flashing two peace signs. "PEACE!" She said, her voice deepening to her chest when she shouted.

"Alright! You wanna try and get a message from Miho and Akira?" Emi asked, Kenji turning the camera to the two. Akira had lipstick stains on her face now as she continued the shy chuckling.

"Hey, STARSTRUCK locker room, I bet my girlfriend is cooler than any of yours! Ahaha…. Let's go cuddle, sweetie." Miho said, drunkenly leaning down to hug Akira to her chest. "How about over there on the couch?"

"P-please! It can wait until after the party!" Akira said, stumbling a bit to hold up the larger girl leaning on her, clearly swiveling a bit. "You're silly, Miho… C'mon. Let's find a place for you to sleep." She said, trying to walk her away from the camera.

"O-oh! Merry Christmas to my police department! And my favorite police chief, officer S-"

"Smooches~" Miho said, planting another kiss on Akira's lips and turning her pink.

"O-officer... S-Smooches… Was that his name…?" Akira said, dazed from being doted on with drunken affection.

"Well… guess we got their messages… okay, lemme get the tripod…" Kenji said, handing the camera to Emi. Emi turned the camera and looked straight into it.

"You'll only see this when you're editing, Kenji." She said, holding the camera up straight. "I love you lots, alright? I know we haven't been together super long, but you're… really cool. And a great listener. I'm happy I met you." Emi said with a gentle smile on her face, as Kenji could be seen running up behind her. "Here's to another great year, you dork."

"Got the tripod!" Kenji announced, walking over and taking the camera to attach it to the tripod so he can set the camera facing the large christmas tree in the room.

"Alright guys! Gather up. I don't care if you hate it, we gotta get the still so we can send it to the other schools and show we got our shit together." Kenji announced to the room, the tripod holding the shot still as he walked in front of the tree. Akira was next, trying to wipe off the kiss marks with a napkin, holding Miho's hand as she stumbled into frame.

The others began to fill in, as Emi hit the snap photo option on the camera, running toward the center to stand next to Kenji, as Shiro and Yukata entered the frame last. Reiko not getting up from her seat, but managed to scoot it into frame so she can flip off the camera.

"Merry Christmas from Class 36!"

The tape ended there, the projector turning black as the remaining students just stared at it in shock.

Akira slowly stood up, pulling the DVD out and putting it back in its case. Opening the other case and just staring down at it as the rest of the room sat in silence.

"So… That's what it was like." Setsuki said, breaking the silence as she felt herself start to cry.

"Yeah…" Yukiji replied, wrapping his arms around himself.

"Goddamnit…" Haru said, barely choking out the words.

"You guys seemed really happy." Airi said, standing from her seat. "I could hear it in your voices…"

"And now they're all dead." Naoki said, upset by that. "I don't understand why…"

"...I need to switch to the Despair tape." Akira said, trying to hold it together so she could do her job and finish investigating. "I-if you guys don't want to watch with me, that's okay. But no matter what, I have to find every clue I can."

"A-Akira… are you sure about that? You saw what happened to Yukata after watching that…" Yukiji said, concern breaking through his voice..

"I don't have a choice, Yukiji! I have to." Akira shot back.

"I just.. I don't want you to get hurt." Yukiji objected, tears streaming down his cheek. Akira sighed and wiped the tears away from his face.

"I promise I'll be okay. Just… Wait at the trial elevator... I'll show up. I always show up." Akira said, rubbing his hair in her hand.

"Yeah.. I'm not gonna sit through this." Haru said, patting Akira on her back. "Hang in there." He said before leaving.

Naoki gently bumped his fist on her shoulder. "You know what to do." He said, leaving as well.

Setsuki just hugged Akira, not saying anything before leaving next. Yukiji followed her as well.

Airi just calmly put a hand on her shoulder. "Just... Remember you have your friends for you to fall back on. You're not alone, no matter how much despair you're in." Airi said, exiting the room and leaving Akira alone.

Akira sighed, sitting into the chair next to the projector, putting the DVD in and starting the Despair tape, her thumbs and fingers locked together as she laser focused on what she was seeing.

Every murder played out in front of her, from angles where she could see exactly what happened. Rio got chased up the stairs, Emi was sawn in half, Dahlia clobbered Bam with a bat, and then she was impaled with spikes. Miho broke her neck in an accident, then drowned in the pool, Akami got his throat slit by Shiro, and Reiko was ran over by a car, Yukata poisoned Hana, then shot himself. The next scene was a new one that even Shiro couldn't see, Shiro's murder.

Shiro had the microphone in one hand as he recorded his final message. "Someone else was Rio Daisuke, someone else isn't who they say they are. But please… trust Airi. Sh-" The door was suddenly kicked open, hitting the back wall as Kenji glared at the man he was looking at. Clearly seeing red in his eyes from the twisted anger and disgust on his face.

"SHIRO! You son of a bitch!" Kenji shouted. Shiro snapped around, pressing his hands to the control panel behind him.

"Kenji! Please, go back up. You can't be here!" Shiro pled, as Kenji looked around, finding a Monokuma bust on the table and taking it into his hand.

"I fucking knew it. You are the mastermind. There's no way you could've lived as long as you did if you weren't!" Kenji accused, pointing a finger at him.

"Kenji, take a breath. You're jumping to conclusions. I'm hiding here to kill the ma-" Shiro tried to explain himself, before getting cut off by the indignant Kenji.

"You aren't doing a goddamn thing! You're going to get Akira killed!" Kenji shouted.

"Kenji…"

"This stops here, motherfucker!" Kenji shouted, running toward Shiro, as Shiro tried to run past him, grabbing the door with his bleeding hand as Kenji slammed the bust of Monokuma as hard as he could on the back of Shiro's head, sending him to the floor, blood leaking from the back of his head as Kenji started to take deep breaths.

"12 hours, huh…?" Kenji said, Shiro started to move again, but was mumbling and not making coherent words. "I'll get answers out of you…" He said, grabbing Shiro by the hair and dragging him out of the room.

It cut nearly 10 hours later as Kenji entered the Morgue with a crowbar Shiro was handcuffed to the back wall, and barely able to move..

"Count your sins, Shiro. I can't question you… So I gotta kill you." Kenji said, kneeling down and setting the laptop he had under an arm on a nearby table as he quickly grabbed Shiro's hand, forcing him to write AIRI 11037. He tore up some paper on the table, stuffing it into his mouth. Put a pillow over his head, and pressed the crowbar to Shiro's throat until he stopped moving.

Akira started to shiver. Watching all of that was.. probably the worst thing she's ever seen in her whole life, everyone dying for something so pointless… They were best friends just months before this killing game began.

Once that was over, it cut to the massacre of Future Crest, Akira noticing the date in the bottom corner of the screen reading 2/23/23 as the cameras cut to relevant rooms of students being gunned down for nearly an entire hour. Akira watched, eyes wide as she refused to look away, despite how terrible it was to witness hundreds of students, crawling away from men in black and orange and being slaughtered execution style, point blank headshots on every student, ending up with a kill count in the hundreds all while a man in a black outfit and donning a mask walked through the hall of bodies humming a song, their voice distorted by the mask's built in microphone.

The screen cut to black, Akira feeling her heart begin to race. Reaching up to press her hand to her face as she felt herself start to break down in tears. She got up from the table and started speaking to herself.

"Miho… I know you're watching me. Please… please… I want this to work… So many people died… Let me save someone. Anyone… Just one fucking person! Please… Miho. Be my strength." Akira said, her words broken as she fought through her tears, walking out of the classroom and back down the stairs. The other five students standing at the elevator to the trial room, Monokuma standing in the center, hopping from side to side on each paw as he waited things out.

"Akira's back!" Monokuma announced, everyone looking up at her as she slowly went back down the stairs, standing on the podium in dead silence.

"You get everything you wanted~?" Monokuma asked, leaning in to leer at the officer.

"Start the damn trial." Akira said, her voice weak as she started to wipe her tears with her sleeve.

"Youuuu got it! Trial is a go-go! It's the Final Showdown! Dodo do~ do! Dada Do do-" Monokuma started to sing.

"Shut it." Akira snapped at him, cutting the bear off.

"Fiiine." Monokuma complained.

 _There was so many things that confused Akira when she tried to collect her thoughts… Wrong identities, people lying, drugs, mind control and more… how far was the mastermind willing to go to make a bunch of college students suffer? So many people were lost, kind, honest, caring people who did nothing wrong… and were forced to hate and murder each other for someone's amusement._

 _This trial will be the moment where Akira lives or dies, betting it all on the only chance she has left. There's no other options, there's nothing else she can do but this final class trial except go down with her teeth gnashing in an existential fury. This will take everything she has left in her soul, to drag someone down to hell who deserves it before she feels the blood stained water submerges her head.  
_  
 _The Sun Rises on the Final Class Trial._


	69. CLASS TRIAL 6

_Content Warning: The Mastermind is a horrible person. And does and says horrible things that do no in any way reflect the opinions of the writer or co-writer of Danganronpa XX. When the mastermind is revealed, you may want to brace yourself for the possibility of triggers of like… all the heinous shit they say. And if you become uncomfortable reading, you can back out and find something less intense. You do you._

 _The actual trigger warning subjects are spoilers, so this one's a general 'you're gonna read some fucked up things' warning instead._

 _But everyone else who wants to see some awful things happen and get entertained by it, all aboard! Choo Choo, This is gonna suck._

 **FINAL CLASS TRIAL! ALL RISE!**

 _(The Class Trial Room was surrounded by large televisions screens on each one, currently playing a fuzzy static, while the floor and walls were just grey concrete. Kenji's face has been added to the dead students, with an X splattered over his face.)_ ****

 **Monokuma:** Allow me to begin with the explanation of the special rules for this Class Trial!

 **Monokuma Cont'd:** If Akira Kazue can correctly suss out the culprit for the first murder case, and figure out the mystery of this school… The mastermind will be punished. But, if Akira chooses incorrectly, Akira Kazue dies, and the rest of the students will be trapped in the school for the rest of their lives!

 **Haru Yamada:** Goddamn. Are those really the terms we're working under!?

 **Monokuma:** Hey, Akira agreed to it. If you have a problem with being stuck in here forever, blame her!

 **Akira Kazue:** I'm aware of the risks… I've discussed this with most of the other students and they've allowed me to do this.

 **Naoki Tsukada:** Wait, we'll be trapped in here the rest of our lives? I thought we were already trapped in here the rest of our lives!

 **Monokuma:** That's the same. You'll still be trapped in here. Just… You'll not be able to have another class trial! Even if you kill someone in a super good murder that no one can figure out… if Akira's wrong, too bad! You're outta luck! You stay here with me. Forever and ever and ever.

 **Setsuki Yori:** Forever? Forever ever?

 **Monokuma:** Forever ever ever!

 **Monokuma Cont'd:** Now let's get this neato super duper Final Trial underway!

 **Akira Kazue:** I want to report that the result of the first class trial was wrong… That the culprit was not Emi Nakayama… But the mastermind themselves.

 **Monokuma:** You have the floor.

 _(Debate Starts)  
_  
 **Monokuma:** So Akira… Did you have an explanation better than the real one?

 **Monokuma Cont'd:** Emi wanted to trap the mastermind, and talked Kenji into helping her do it.

 **Monokuma Cont'd:** But Emi had her own plan, to kill the mastermind, not trap him!

 **Airi Kudo:** The trap was modified by someone.

 **Monokuma:** Yeah! It was! By Emi! Emi altered her own trap to make it look like someone else did it.

 **Akira Kazue: No, That's wrong.**

 _(Debate Ends)  
_  
 **Akira Kazue Cont'd:** Actually… The Despair Tape showed me something extremely important. Emi never went out to alter the trap again until after it was activated.

 **Monokuma:** But the Despair tape never had footage of someone removing the bolts!

 **Akira Kazue:** While the act itself was cut… The way the tape was edited, if someone didn't directly do something related to the murder, it was cut.

 **Akira Kazue:** The narrative for every killing in that video… It didn't cut out something a student directly did if they were the culprit. The only murder that did withhold information, was when Wakako killed Bam.

 **Airi Kudo:** What information did the murder of Bam withhold? It may have to do with something Monokuma cut out for time.

 **Akira Kazue:** ...It was the trap for Reiko. It didn't show Wakako setting up Reiko's trap. It just showed her killing Bam and hiding the body.

 **Akira Kazue Cont'd:** But the difference is Dahlia didn't have footage of her setting up the trap or using it at all. Emi's trap set up was shown, but it cut out anyone modifying it… Meaning she didn't modify it herself, or else they would show all of it.

 **Monokuma:** Good job, Akira! I think that's a sufficient enough explanation that Emi could have not modified her trap. It's not proof, but it sows a seed of doubt!

 **Akira Kazue:** Another thing that wasn't covered in the initial class trial was the fact we don't know why Rio Daisuke ever left his bedroom in the first place. We breezed over it, because we had no way to know.

 **Monokuma:** And why does that matter?

 **Akira Kazue:** He would have never activated that trap if he was sleeping soundly in his bed. He would have to leave his room to activate it… And go up to the third floor to do it!

 **Haru Yamada:** Maybe he had to use the bathroom like you did that night?

 **Akira Kazue:** I went downstairs to the bathroom. For some reason, Rio went UP was nothing he needed upstairs, but he went anyway.

 **Akira Kazue Cont'd:** Someone chased him out of the bedroom and into Emi's modified trap! The killer blocked his exit. That's the only way Rio would head upstairs instead of down!

 _(Debate Starts)_

 **Monokuma:** So, do you have any proof that Rio was chased upstairs?

 **Yukiji Chimon:** I thought he went upstairs on his own free will.

 **Airi Kudo:** He couldn't have activated such a big trap if he was pacing himself. It would have to be if he was running.

 **Setsuki Yori:** Was he in a hurry?

 **Haru Yamada:** He got chased up the stairs by someone, right?

 **Airi Kudo:** Yeah, that's what Shiro told us back when he explained this Despair Tape.

 **Yukiji Chimon:** But… No one was in Rio's bedroom, right?

 **Akira Kazue: No, that's wrong.  
**  
 _(Debate Ends)_

 **Akira Kazue:** I actually might have proof that someone else was in Rio's room to chase him out of it.

 **Akira Kazue Cont'd:** There was a large cut in the mattress right next to the pillow. Someone stabbed into it to wake him up. He most likely got scared, and ran out of the room in fear.

 **Akira Kazue Cont'd:** Naoki, you're in Rio's bedroom, right? You noticed there was a cut in the mattress, yeah?

 **Naoki Tsukada:** Yeah… It's under the mattress though. When the sheets are over it, you can't tell it's there unless you look for it.

 **Yukiji Chimon:** Does that have to do with the thing we searched Kenji's and Rio's labs for?

 **Airi Kudo:** That's right. We did… Something that could make that kind of cut in the mattress. Another murder weapon. __

**Akira Kazue:** And damn it I searched the whole school for this alternate murder weapon and I'm gonna present it as evidence.

 **Monokuma:** What is it? What is it?

 **Akira Kazue:** A ceramic knife. I found this in Rio's lab, which was some place we wouldn't be able to hide it back when we were locked in the school.

 **Monokuma:** Barring someone moving it once the lab was unlocked so you'd find it there.

 **Akira Kazue:** While that's possible, I do know someone stole it from the kitchen, then hid it in a place we couldn't find it. It matches the cut in the mattress, and could be used to scare Rio into running upstairs.

 **Airi Kudo:** And the person who chased him upstairs is the mastermind?

 **Akira Kazue:** Yeah… I'm sure of it.

 **Monokuma:** But how do you know it wasn't one of you? You could just say someone was wearing a mask so no one appeared to be guilty. Where's the mask!?

 **Akira Kazue:** We found the mask in the underground bunker, actually. It had a voice changing effect that made it so if you wore it, it would make your voice hard to discern.

 **Akira Kazue Cont'd:** You made the Despair Tape… You should know the mastermind was wearing that Lucha mask! Shiro said it, and I said it's true too. So admit it!

 **Monokuma:** Fine. I'll admit it. The person who chased Rio up the stairs was wearing a mask to obscure their identity.

 **Setsuki Yori:** Hey! We got proof that the guy runnin' Monokuma chased Rio upstairs into Emi's modified trap!

 **Monokuma:** Nope!

 **Setsuki Yori:** Nope?

 **Monokuma:** Nope.

 **Haru Yamada:** Whaddya mean nope!?

 **Monokuma:** Nope nope nope.

 **Airi Kudo:** He's just saying 'nope' now.

 **Akira Kazue:** You have to explain shit, Monokuma! You can't just say "nope" until we stop talking!

 **Monokuma:** You have proof of one thing… That the person with the knife stabbed the mattress, and chased Rio upstairs. But do you have proof of HOW they did that?

 **Akira Kazue:** What do you mean?

 **Monokuma:** Well then, allow me to hit your brains with my own truth bullet. The door opening Monopad I gave Shiro!

 _(Monokuma presses a button, putting the information onto the monitors)_

Emi's Door Opens: 11:01 PM  
Dahlia's Door Opens: 11:10 PM  
Yukiji's Door Opens: 11:14 PM  
Emi's Door Opens: 11:18 PM  
Rio's Door Opens: 11:22 PM  
Emi's Door Opens: 11:24 PM  
Yukata's Door Opens: 11:29 PM  
Kenji's Door Opens: 11:30 PM  
Kenji's Door Opens: 11:34 PM  
Yukata's Door Opens: 11:34 PM  
Emi's Door Opens: 11:44 PM  
Yukiji's Door Opens: 11:51 PM  
Dahlia's Door Opens: 11:58 PM.  
Akira's Door Opens 12:35 PM  
Akira's Door Opens: 12:42 PM __

 _(Debate Starts)_

 **Monokuma:** Lemme run these down for ya, girl.

 **Monokuma Cont'd:** The first one was Emi, who realized the doors just unlocked, figured it would be a good time to make a trap to catch the Mastermind.

 **Monokuma Cont'd:** The second one was Dahlia being a sexpest and stalking Yukiji! She then opens Yukiji's door to watch'em!

 **Yukiji Chimon:** Sex pest...?

 **Haru Yamada:** C'mon, man! Don't speak ill of the dead!

 **Monokuma:** Rio's door opens exactly once. He activates the trap, then Emi checks on him, and tries to hide the body!

 **Monokuma Cont'd:** Yukata and Kenji checked on her together, who managed to talk them out of coming upstairs!

 **Monokuma Cont'd:** Then they go back to bed. Dahlia gets tired of mouth breathing on Yukiji, and goes to bed. And then Akira goes poop. The end.

 **Akira Kazue:** Why do we have to keep bringing that up?

 **Monokuma:** You see the fault here? Rio's door opened one time!

 **Haru Yamada:** I mean… Yeah. What does that mean?  
 _  
_ **Monokuma:** If Rio's door opened just once, then he was the only one who opened the door!

 **Monokuma Cont'd:** If I entered his door, then it would have opened twice!

 **Haru Yamada:** You would have struck it from the records!

 **Monokuma:** I follow the rules I set, idiot. If I opened your door, I would tell you.

 **Airi Kudo:** So the door opened just once… No. There would have to be a way you got inside without opening the door, then.

 **Haru Yamada:** An extra door?

 **Yukiji Chimon:** Maybe there's a way through the floor above it…?

 **Setsuki Yori:** What about those chute things?

 **Akira Kazue: I agree with Setsuki!**

 _(Debate Ends)_

 **Akira Kazue:** The Chutes! That has to be it. The chutes go to nearly every room in the building!

 **Monokuma:** Oh, so ya found those, huh? Neat. Do ya like em? 

**Setsuki Yori:** I mean they're fun as heck.

 **Akira Kazue:** You could use the chute to enter Rio's room… And attack him without opening the door. When Rio wakes up, he rushes out the door, and you follow him up the stairs.

 **Akira Kazue Cont'd:** Then Emi's trap, modified by the culprit was activated, killing him and making Emi think it's her fault!

 **Airi Kudo:** Then Emi is tasked with trying to hide the body, sliding it down the trash chute back to the first floor, so she can hide it in the showers and clean up the third floor.

 **Airi Kudo Cont'd:** So Monokuma could pin the murder on her, and kill her.

 **Akira Kazue:** Does that sound right, Monokuma?

 **Monokuma:** Bravissimo! Wunderbar! Good job, Akira! You nailed it. That's EXACTLY how that murder went down!

 **Akira Kazue:** So… Willing to come clean?

 **Monokuma:** Of course not… You figured out the murder, but you don't know who the culprit is.

 **Setsuki Yori:** But we proved your Blackened was a lie! Isn't that enough to make us throw out that class trial?

 **Monokuma:** Maybe it could… But Akira accepted my bet. She thinks she can outsmart me. I don't care that Akira solved that murder… I want her to solve the school. I want to see if she can outthink me. And figure out which one of you guys I work for!

 **Monokuma Cont'd:** So on that subject… Let's get down to brass tacks. Figuring out who the mastermind really is. I wanna hear what you've learned, Akira!

 **Akira Kazue:** I'll oust you, and then some… I'll take you off your throne, and make you feel the shame of defeat, you bastard!

 **Airi Kudo:** The first thing I think we should do is figure out who is absolutely not the mastermind from what we know. Some of us have information that make it so we have less to choose from, and a better chance to get it correct.

 **Airi Kudo Cont'd:** From the video… and Shiro's description of it, you told me there was something about the physical traits that make certain people not able to be the mastermind in question. Do you remember what it was?

 **Akira Kazue:** A physical trait that the culprit had that disqualifies a few of us from being the mastermind…

 **Akira Kazue: I got it!**

 **Akira Kazue:** The culprit was shorter than Rio! The one wearing the mask had a lithe build, and was clearly shorter in height than Rio.

 **Setsuki Yori:** Uhh.. How tall was Rio again?

 **Airi Kudo:** He was roughly my height. I don't remember the exact number.

 **Akira Kazue:** We'll square that off at 5'10 to 6 feet in height. This means that Haru, who is quite a margin taller than that couldn't be the mastermind.

 **Haru Yamada:** Phew… Weight off my shoulders. I wouldn't wanna be the mastermind anyway! This shit's complicated.

 **Kiko:** Arf!

 **Haru Yamada:** Aww, sweetie. You knew I wasn't the mastermind, didn't you~? Such a good girl!

 _(Haru pet his dog, giving her head scratches. Kiko shut her eyes and smiled, tongue sticking out)_

 **Naoki Tsukada:** Does… proving one person's innocence enough for us to pin this mastermind down?

 **Akira Kazue:** If we can keep finding things that make it so this person couldn't be the mastermind, we'll narrow that number down to one.

 **Airi Kudo:** Eliminate the impossible and whatever remains, no matter how improbable, must be the truth.

 **Setsuki Yori:** Uhh.. shit. I'm shorter than Rio. Now I'm suspicious.

 **Airi Kudo:** Actually.. There's one other thing about the mastermind that Akira and Shiro observed that could mean that both Akira and Setsuki could be innocent. Even though… I don't really like this information.

 **Akira Kazue:** Another feature that makes it hard to believe that Setsuki and I are the culprit…

 **Akira Kazue: That's it!**

 **Akira Kazue Cont'd:** It was the mastermind's figure. In the outfit they were wearing… They had a flat chest, and their hips didn't taper wider than their stomach. That means someone with a woman's figure might not be the mastermind either.

 **Setsuki Yori:** Are you saying I'm not the mastermind because I have boobs?

 **Airi Kudo:** I wasn't gonna say it like that… But if it helps us get out of here, I don't care.

 **Setsuki Yori:** Akira! Your B cups and my C cups are our get out of jail free card! Woop woop!

 **Airi Kudo:** Keep in mind, it's easier for a woman to disguise themselves as a man, than a man to disguise themselves as a woman.

 **Yukiji Chimon:** Why's that?

 **Airi Kudo:** You can pad out certain parts of your body to appear more male, since males are naturally larger than women. Men though start at a certain size, so unless they're lithe, it's pretty hard to disguise yourself as a girl.

 **Akira Kazue:** Wait, why are you arguing against your own point?

 **Airi Kudo:** I'm just stating some facts about disguising.

 **Setsuki Yori:** Look, I know ya got A cups but you did an awesome job proving us innocent, I think! And anyway, I'd be terrible at disguises… I'd probably run around wearing a mustache.

 **Airi Kudo:** My upbringing raised me with a diet so my build can be ambiguous enough to play either gender in disguise. They also intentionally lowered my voice with a special massage to my vocal chords so I can speak like a boy, or a girl when needed.

 **Setsuki Yori:** Holy shit, they do that with spies!?

 **Akira Kazue:** I guess when you're raised from birth to by a spy, they do that to you.

 **Airi Kudo:** But yeah… I'm certain that the mastermind is either Yukiji, Naoki… or me.

 **Monokuma:** You're suspecting yourself?

 **Airi Kudo:** My memory was altered, I'm not putting any option out of my mind right now. I may have gone rogue and held the rest of us hostage.

 **Setsuki Yori:** Dude, stop making us suspect you!

 **Airi Kudo:** No. I just want to make sure I'm not a suspect before we continue.

 **Akira Kazue:** I'm certain it isn't you because both Shiro and Kenji told me to trust you. Not only that, but when I activated the laptop to communicate outside, Komaru vouched for you as well.

 **Airi Kudo:** So is it really fine for me to retract as a suspect because of that?

 **Akira Kazue:** For now anyway, yeah. Does everyone else here trust you?

 **Setsuki Yori:** I do!

 **Haru Yamada:** I mean, yeah.

 **Kiko:** Arf! Arf!

 **Yukiji Chimon:** I think Airi's working hard.

 **Naoki Tsukada:** I mean.. I don't know.

 **Akira Kazue:** Is there a problem, Naoki?

 **Naoki Tsukada:** Well it might just be because you've guys were in the killing game from the start and I joined late because of Monokuma's stupid holding rule… But I don't really know Airi all that well. 

_(Debate Starts)_

**Naoki Tsukada Cont'd:** But can we really trust Airi?

 **Airi Kudo:** I like to think I'm still trying to help.

 **Setsuki Yori:** Why are we being suspicious of Airi now?

 **Naoki Tsukada:** I'm just saying, it's weird that Airi is even here in the first place. How did she get here?

 **Haru Yamada:** I wouldn't know how she got here, I got my memory wiped. You didn't, Naoki.

 **Naoki Tsukada:** But… If Airi isn't one of the classmates, couldn't she be the mastermind?

 **Akira Kazue: No, that's wrong.**

 **Akira Kazue Cont'd:** Naoki, Airi is part of the Future Foundation. I spoke to one of its members just after Kenji died.

 **Airi Kudo:** Thanks to my lack of memory, I didn't remember my mission that I came here to do.

 **Akira Kazue:** Her mission was to come and rescue us. But she got caught, the mastermind switched you out of the killing game, and put her in your place.

 **Naoki Tsukada: Hold on a second!**

 **Naoki Tsukada:** So you're saying she can't capture herself?

 **Airi Kudo:** Let's stay away from weird conspiracy theories while we rule out more simple explanations.

 **Naoki Tsukada:** I'm protesting because we're down to me and Yukiji being the only two people Akira's suspecting.

 **Akira Kazue:** Sorry, man. But that's just how things are going so far.

 **Naoki Tsukada:** And you think I'm okay with that!? Do you think I want to be suspicious!?

 **Akira Kazue:** Naoki, Calm down. I'd only accuse you if we have more proof. ****

**Naoki Tsukada Cont'd:** I'm not gonna let the crosshairs set on me without a fight, Akira!

 **Monokuma:** Ooh! Verbal Showdown! Get at it!

 _(The two podiums for Akira and Naoki faced each other, the rest stood at each side as Akira was framed in blue, and Naoki in red.)  
_  
 **Naoki Tsukada:** I don't get it, Akira. You're saying me and Yukiji are the only two suspects you can think of?

 **Naoki Tsukada Cont'd:** You didn't even let anyone else see the Despair video! Here's my theory, maybe you're pretending you're the lead investigator to trick everyone else!

 **Akira Kazue: Naoki, the reason I didn't let anyone else watch the video was one of us commited suicide after watching it. I didn't want anyone else watching it.**

 **Naoki Tsukada:** But why didn't you want anyone else to watch it?

 **Akira Kazue:** It was for everyone's safety!

 **Naoki Tsukada:** Why couldn't Airi watch it if you if her job is to save all of us!?

 **Naoki Tsukada Cont'd** : Why should we listen to you!? I know everyone else respects you, but you could be tricking people by seeming trustworthy and playing the hero.

 **Akira Kazue: Naoki, Airi's blind. You were there at the trial where it happened! I'm not trying to divert suspicion onto you. I'm trying to figure this out!**

 _(Akira's bar fills entirely.)_

 **Naoki Tsukada:** Fine… Yukiji and I are both suspects. Can you explain why?

 **Akira Kazue:** Gladly. I think the thing I should start with… is actually something we just watched. The Christmas video.

 **Naoki Tsukada:** A video of you guys at Christmas makes me suspicious?

 **Akira Kazue:** There's a couple of things in that video that contradict the information we've learned so far… Stuff that makes me worried about what the truth really is.

 **Akira Kazue Cont'd:** I guess the first thing… You noticed someone missing from the video, right?

 **Naoki Tsukada:** ...Airi?

 **Akira Kazue:** I mean… Yeah. Airi. But one other person was missing. You, Naoki. You weren't there. Why weren't you at the Christmas party?

 **Naoki Tsukada:** Akira, it was flu season. I dipped out because I got a cold, it's nothing crazy.

 **Akira Kazue:** Then why didn't the video have a greeting from you?

 **Naoki Tsukada:** Huh?

 **Akira Kazue:** Class 36 gave out Christmas greetings from Kenji prodding them. But even though you were part of the class, you weren't on the tape.

 **Naoki Tsukada:** I left before Kenji started recording. Flu season's flu season.

 **Akira Kazue:** You're right that you not being there isn't the most suspicious thing. I just wanted to hear your reason you were missing in the video. Did you know Rio was there?

 **Naoki Tsukada:** Yeah. Rio was there, he was on video.

 **Akira Kazue:** Pretty interesting Rio's there, since he's dead and all.

 **Setsuki Yori:** Well, I mean… yeah, he got a box of hammers dropped on him. Was that really your "gotcha!" moment?

 **Akira Kazue:** ...Goddamnit, Setsuki. That's not what I meant.

 **Setsuki Yori:** But you said Rio's dead! And I pointed out when he died!

 **Akira Kazue:** Setsuki! Just… Jesus Christ, give me a minute.

 **Airi Kudo:** I think I know what Akira's talking about. Setsuki, let her explain.

 **Setsuki Yori:** Fiiiine.

 **Akira Kazue:** You heard Shiro's message… Rio was dead before the killing game started. While I was researching the remnants of the school server… I saw Rio's obituary in the school archive. It said he died.

 **Akira Kazue Cont'd:** He was ran over by a van in a hit and run… On October 13th.

 **Setsuki Yori:** I don't see how that proves he can't be in the Christmas Video!

 **Yukiji Chimon:** Uhh.. Setsuki. Christmas is after October.

 **Setsuki Yori:** I obj-... Oh shit. Yukiji's right! I forgot about that.

 **Airi Kudo:** I wonder how you stay alive sometimes, Setsuki. Did you think Thanksgiving was in October too?

 **Setsuki Yori:** Uhh.. Sometimes. It depended on if I wanted free turkey.

 **Setsuki Yori Cont'd:** Oh! Oh! Wait! Thanksgiving is in October in Canada!

 **Airi Kudo:** No one cares about Canada.

 **Monokuma:** Don't say that. You'll upset all of Canada! They'll send a disappointed letter. The greatest insult.

 **Akira Kazue:** Guys, we're getting off topic! If Rio died on October 13th, he couldn't be in the Christmas video. He would be dead… And Naoki would have been in his place.

 **Naoki Tsukada:** It was flu season, dammit!

 **Akira Kazue:** And you were the only one in Class 36 who got sick?!

 **Naoki Tsukada:** That's not the most absurd thing to happen. If Rio was dead, and in the video anyway… What do you think the reason is!?

 **Akira Kazue:** You're not Naoki Tsukada!

 **Naoki Tsukada:** Uhh. What?

 **Haru Yamada:** Akira, are you feeling alright? What does that even mean?

 **Setsuki Yori:** Are ya gonna accuse Rio of being a ghost next?

 **Airi Kudo:** I mean, right now he is, bu-

 **Setsuki Yori:** NOT LIKE THAT!

 **Airi Kudo:** Sorry.

 **Naoki Tsukada:** But… Akira. I am Naoki Tsukada. It's literally my name. Are you on Somas?

 **Akira Kazue:** You're someone else, and you've been put on a mind altering drug to think you're Naoki Tsukada!

 **Naoki Tsukada:** You can't just dump that on someone and expect them to believe it!

 **Haru Yamada:** Yeah. We might need to unpack that. The fuck are you talking about, Akira?

 **Akira Kazue:** I'm talking about Orpheus! Naoki was on Orpheus!

 **Naoki Tsukada:** Akira. I remember EVERYTHING THAT HAPPENED!

 **Akira Kazue:** What do you mean!?

 **Naoki Tsukada:** Monokuma put me in a box for SIX GODDAMN MONTHS! I remember all of it! I remember all the time I spend with you guys! I remember being your friends! I was Naoki Tsukada the day of the attack on the school, and I'm Naoki Tsukada now!

 **Naoki Tsukada Cont'd:** You're being a weirdo. Stop it! 

**Yukiji Chimon:** Uh… Akira, what does Orpheus have to do with this?

 **Akira Kazue:** Orpheus! The mind altering drug they gave us to wipe our memories.

 **Naoki Tsukada:** But.. I wasn't given Orpheus. I remember everything that happened to me.

 **Airi Kudo:** Akira. You can't jump to things you thought of, but haven't explained to anyone yet. Get everyone up to speed, and try again.

 **Akira Kazue:** I'll have to start over. My bad.

 **Naoki Tsukada:** Your bad. Uh-huh. More like you're bad.

 **Haru Yamada:** So what makes you think Naoki's someone else?

 **Akira Kazue:** Alright, here goes. While investigating the school database for information on the school, I came across the main news database from last year.

 **Akira Kazue Cont'd:** One of the articles that presented itself was the drawing for the Ultimate Lucky Student, something that happens in school sponsored by Hope's Peak at the beginning of every school year.

 **Haru Yamada:** Makes a lot more sense when you frame it like that. Stop trying to rush the class trials, Akira.

 **Akira Kazue:** Sorry, these trials take hours, and when I feel like I have something important to say, I try to rush to it, and it ends up not making any sense.

 **Monokuma:** That sounds oddly familiar~

 **Akira Kazue:** Shut up.

 **Akira Kazue Cont'd:** The winner of last years Ultimate Lucky Student was someone named Tennosuke Koda.

 **Setsuki Yori:** Who the heck is Tennosuke Koda?

 **Akira Kazue:** That was what I wanted to know. We've never met someone with that name the entire time we were in this school.

 **Naoki Tsukada:** Are you sure you didn't get the wrong year, or something?

 **Akira Kazue:** No. This was last year's Ultimate Lucky Student, it was posted on March 15th of last year. But here's the weird part.

 **Akira Kazue Cont'd:** The archived version of the webpage updated one day later to say that the Ultimate Lucky Student was Naoki, not Tennosuke.

 **Haru Yamada:** Uhh.. Yeah. That is kind of weird. Was it a clerical error or something?

 **Akira Kazue:** No, if it were an error, they would offer an apology for clarify the first drawing was wrong. It was... changed, or something.

 **Naoki Tsukada:** If he was a felon, maybe he got drawn, but couldn't accept the results.

 **Akira Kazue:** No, even in the case the student couldn't accept the drawing results, I'm pretty sure they would explain why the first drawing was a fluke.

 **Airi Kudo:** Anyway. That could but true, but we know that Tennosuke joined the school.

 **Akira Kazue:** We do?

 **Airi Kudo:** You should know why. Remember the other article you were reading.

 **Akira Kazue:** Proof that Tennosuke was still enrolled...

 **Akira Kazue: That has to be it!  
**  
 **Akira Kazue Cont'd:** Could you be talking about the Gum-Mart article?

 **Airi Kudo:** Indeed.

 **Yukiji Chimon:** ...Gum-Mart?

 **Monokuma:** I gotta say, someone was bad at choosing the name of their corner store. I would've gone with something like 'Grab n' go' or 'Snack Avenue.' Something that catches your attention!

 **Setsuki Yori:** Those store names aren't much better.

 **Monokuma:** You run a corner market, then! See all the great names you can come up with!

 **Setsuki Yori:** Someone's touchy... Did you set up this killing game because someone took the name of your favorite convenience store?

 **Monokuma:** Yes.

 **Setsuki Yori:** Holy shit, really!? I hit the nail on the head?!

 **Monokuma:** No, you numbskull! If I set up this killing game because I couldn't name a corner market, I would reveal my identity just to stab myself in the kidneys! That would be an awful character motivation! Shame. Shame!

 **Akira Kazue:** ...Can I explain the thing already?

 **Setsuki Yori:** Sorry.

 **Akira Kazue:** Right. So, the Gum Mart article's contents I'll bring up later. But proof that Tennosuke was still in the school was the fact it listed him as a reserve course member, a few days after he lost his Ultimate Lucky Student title.

 **Airi Kudo:** I suspect he was transferred by someone who had access to the inner workings of the server. Which is an impressive task in itself.

 **Setsuki Yori:** It's hard to hack a college?

 **Airi Kudo:** Notoriously difficult. There's an international database of each students personal records, along with each of their test scores.

 **Airi Kudo Cont'd:** Say the college used a scanner for your test scores. It uses a camera to check where each bubble on a multiple choice quiz would be, and then sends it to the class' teacher for the results, and eventually it makes the way up to an international organization of academia.

 **Airi Kudo Cont'd:** Imagine if you could replace the image of your actual test answers, with answers using the answer key to get a 100% score. You would have a massive data breach incident on your hands. So most colleges actually heavily encrypt their data.

 **Setsuki Yori:** Uhhhh...

 **Yukiji Chimon:** I think you broke Setsuki.

 **Monokuma:** Poor simpleton. It flew right over her head!

 **Airi Kudo:** Setsuki. Yes. It's hard.

 **Setsuki Yori:** Ohhhhhh, I get it!

 **Monokuma:** Crisis averted.

 **Akira Kazue:** Thanks, Airi. How did you know about that if you didn't read the article? Since… You're blind and all.

 **Airi Kudo:** You mumble to yourself when you're reading.

 **Akira Kazue:** O-oh...

 **Setsuki Yori:** So what happened to Tennosuke?

 **Akira Kazue:** Tennosuke was last seen a few days after he got placed in the reserve course. He was outside of a store called Gum-Mart.

 **Akira Kazue Cont'd:** He was stabbed in the stomach by several unknown assailants, and dragged into a black panel van. This was on March 17th. Two days after he won the Ultimate Lucky Student contest.

 **Setsuki Yori:** So Tennosuke won the contest… Then lost the contest and got put in Reserve Course… And then was kidnapped in the span of three days!?

 **Akira Kazue:** Yeah. I couldn't tell what they looked like on the camera since the footage was grainy.

 **Airi Kudo:** But that's not the strangest part. The strangest thing was what else the obituary said about Rio Daisuke.

 **Akira Kazue:** How much did I mumble!?

 **Airi Kudo:** All of it. _  
_  
**Akira Kazue:** Jeez…

 **Monokuma:** You never noticed you mouth what you read? I've known that for weeks!

 **Akira Kazue:** Shut up! I only do that sometimes!

 **Akira Kazue Cont'd:** Rio Daisuke's obituary said he died on October 13th… And that he was also the Ultimate Lucky Student.

 **Haru Yamada:** Wait… All three were Ultimate Lucky Students!? I thought one was a Spelunker. He went in caves 'n shit.

 **Naoki Tsukada:** I don't think this school news is the most reliable source if it's wrong two out of three times...

 **Airi Kudo:** I don't think they were wrong… They were altered. Someone went in the database and overwrote what the original article said.

 **Naoki Tsukada:** By who!? You're not making any sense!

 _(Debate Starts)  
_  
 **Naoki Tsukada:** Who would bother to go into the database and change peoples Ultimate Titles around like that?

 **Airi Kudo:** Not enough to change the fact you thought you were the Ultimate Lucky Student.

 **Naoki Tsukada:** What do you mean?

 **Airi Kudo:** The interview tapes… The names were censored, but you called yourself the Ultimate Lucky Student when Masato Inoue was interviewing you for the school.

 **Haru Yamada:** Yeah. And Rio called himself the Ultimate Spelunker. Or I think that was Rio. Everyone's name got beeped in those interviews. This whole thing's confusing.

 **Airi Kudo:** So you weren't aware that the Ultimate Lucky Student was either changed from you, or changed to you depending on what your identity is.

 **Naoki Tsukada:** Nobody changed my identity! Guys, what is your problem?!

 **Naoki Tsukada Cont'd:** If someone wanted to change my identity, who the holy fuck would?! No one, that's who!

 **Akira Kazue: No, That's wrong.**

 **Akira Kazue:** HAVOC would be interested in changing identities around.

 **Haru Yamada:** Havoc… Like the physics engine?

 **Akira Kazue:** No, HAVOC the organization.

 **Monokuma:** Akira~ Tell the class what you've learned.

 **Akira Kazue:** HAVOC was described to me by the Future Foundation as a terrorist cell that's opened up shop a year or two ago. They're… fanboys of Junko Enoshima.

 **Yukiji Chimon:** Who's that?

 **Akira Kazue:** I'll get into that in a bit. But the more important information is that they're running their own killing games across the country. They're obsessed with the idea of Despair and putting students like us in horrible situations.

 **Akira Kazue Cont'd:** I don't think I need to discuss the scale of their reach. You've seen how much technology they possess from just owning and operating a system as vast as the one Monokuma's operating.

 **Haru Yamada:** Yeah… We saw a buncha stuff Monokuma's running. Even that big factory under the school...

 **Naoki Tsukada:** I don't get it, Akira.

 **Akira Kazue:** What's not to get?

 **Naoki Tsukada:** How do you alter someone's memory if you remember everything? You said you had your memories wiped, right?

 **Akira Kazue:** Yes. We've all had our memories wiped, except for you… Or at least, you think you didn't have your memories wiped.

 **Naoki Tsukada:** I'm just… wondering what kind of X-Files shit you're on right now, Kazue. How can I have my memories altered but not wiped, when you have yours wiped and not altered?

 **Akira Kazue:** I know exactly what could be used to alter those memories. It's a property of something that affected all of us in different ways.

 **Akira Kazue: Here!**

 **Akira Kazue Cont'd:** The drug we were administered is called Orpheus. It does in fact wipe memories.

 **Naoki Tsukada:** But I sa-

 **Akira Kazue:** That it wipes out memories only? I don't think so. It has another effect. The subject is put under stasis for up to an hour, where the person speaking to them is capable of using the power of suggestion to put any truth they want.

 **Naoki Tsukada:** But it still wipes your memories! I would have gaps in my mind if they used that stuff on me.

 **Airi Kudo:** Perhaps it wasn't used on you. But… I think I do know someone it was used on. Akira… Who else involved in this lost their memories?

 **Akira Kazue:** Didn't everyone lose their memories?

 **Airi Kudo:** Be more specific. We know that perhaps Naoki is telling the truth, and didn't have his memories altered despite the fact Naoki may not be his name. But someone else we know didn't use their real name either. ****

**Akira Kazue: It has to be… Dahlia!**

 **Airi Kudo:** Correct. Dahlia Kurotsuki constantly called herself by her misnomer, and was pretty much hypnotized into thinking that was her real name until we confronted her over her name being Wakako Nagase.

 **Akira Kazue:** But… Wakako was injected multiple times. Her psyche was damaged.

 **Yukiji Chimon:** I would guess that maybe just injecting someone once would make them stable enough to make them think that was their identity.

 **Airi Kudo:** But… Someone else could have had their name changed, and knew nothing about it. And if they didn't have their mental state damaged by overuse, then they could have their name changed, and we would have no choice to believe them.

 **Akira Kazue:** No choice but to believe them?

 **Airi Kudo:** Think about it Akira. If you don't remember ever seeing someone before… Would you believe their name if they told you it? Even if it wasn't their real name? Perhaps they're using an alias… Or perhaps they don't know what their original name was.

 **Akira Kazue:** Wait… No. You don't mean…

 **Airi Kudo:** Rio Daisuke might not have known his real name. He was told he was Rio Daisuke, so he told us that was his name. His memories were wiped, he could have been told that was his name

.  
 **Haru Yamada:** No fuckin' way…

 **Setsuki Yori:** You can change someone's name and they'll believe it if you just drug them with Orpheus and tell them that's their name?

 **Akira Kazue:** I… I don't know how to feel.

 **Airi Kudo:** Did you notice something about that Christmas video we watched? I may have not been able to see this fact, but I heard it loud and clear.

 **Airi Kudo Cont'd:** Someone in the video never was addressed by name. We all put that identity on them because we recognized his face and voice. But this was before the memory altering drug…

 **Akira Kazue:** No one called him Rio…

 **Airi Kudo:** Now you're starting to follow where I'm going with this.

 **Airi Kudo Cont'd:** The person in that video was never Rio Daisuke to begin with. He was the Ultimate Spelunker… and he was your friend. But that wasn't his name!

 **Setsuki Yori:** Then who was he!?

 **Airi Kudo:** Either Tennosuke or Naoki. If he's Tennosuke, then this Naoki's Rio. And if he's Naoki, then this Naoki's Tennosuke.

 **Naoki Tsukada: I won't stand for this!**

 **Naoki Tsukada Cont'd:** Akira… I'm getting sick of this real damn quick.

 **Akira Kazue:** Why are you trying to fight me the whole way!? You're trying to find out who the culprit is too!

 **Naoki Tsukada:** And I'm getting sick of you accusing me! Just because I joined late doesn't mean I'm guilty!

 **Naoki Tsukada Cont'd:** The Mastermind could be any of us! Even Airi!

 **Akira Kazue:** Airi poisoned herself to save Setsuki. I trust her more than anyone else here.

 **Setsuki Yori:** Yeah. I trust her too!

 **Akira Kazue:** Do you have a problem with this theory?

 **Naoki Tsukada:** Yes! I have plenty of problems!

 **Naoki Tsukada Cont'd:** First, the fact I'm not in the Christmas Video making me guilty… You don't fucking know what happened! I was fine! I could have been there, just off camera.

 **Naoki Tsukada Cont'd:** And second of all, how can I be Rio, if Rio DIED two months before that video was recorded?!

 **Akira Kazue: You faked your death.**

 **Naoki Tsukada:** W-what!?

 **Akira Kazue:** Everyone, I'm going to need you to use your memory for this. You remember Emi's pictures in her lab, right? The ones with all of us together?

 **Akira Kazue Cont'd:** There were ones with Kenji and Emi… And ones with Wakako and Yukiji, and even ones with all of us together, with Rio and Naoki present. Do you remember something about those photos?

 **Haru Yamada:** Uhh… We were hanging out?

 **Airi Kudo:** …

 **Akira Kazue:** Some of the photos were taken outside. In the spring… You know where I'm going with this, right?

 **Naoki Tsukada:** Huh?

 **Akira Kazue:** All the pictures of you with us Naoki were taken in either the spring, or the summer. The leaves were green, they haven't turned brown yet, or fallen off the trees. That means that you were alive last year. But suddenly… The pictures stop.

 **Akira Kazue Cont'd:** Isn't it a little convenient you stopped showing up by the time the Christmas Video rolled around?

 **Naoki Tsukada:** Goddamnit.. You're not listening to me!

 **Naoki Tsukada Cont'd:** No one said I died! Wouldn't there be a memorial for me if I died!? Yukata's sister died, and he remembered her! Why did no one say I died if I did!?

 **Airi Kudo:** Perhaps you were more distant to people so people wouldn't attend your funeral.

 **Airi Kudo Cont'd:** Your closed casket funeral, by the way. You were apparently disfigured by being hit by a car, and had to have a closed casket funeral.

 **Naoki Tsukada:** But…

 **Akira Kazue:** Then how did you know that Christmas story if you were dead!?

 **Naoki Tsukada:** I'm not Rio! You don't get it!

 **Akira Kazue:** Face it, the fact you aren't Naoki Tsukada is plausible!

 **Naoki Tsukada:** Then I am Tennosuke!

 **Setsuki Yori:** He's Tennosuke now?

 **Naoki Tsukada:** Maybe I had my memory wiped when Monokuma kidnapped me outside of Gum-Mart! He wiped my memories, and then kept me in a box for 6 months drip feeding me information about who I'm supposed to be!

 **Naoki Tsukada Cont'd** : Akira, I wouldn't turn my back on you guys, you're my friends! The Mastermind has to be someone else!

 **Akira Kazue: You are not Tennosuke!  
**  
 **Naoki Tsukada:**...What did you just say to me?

 **Akira Kazue:** You're not Tennosuke. And I can prove it.

 **Setsuki Yori:** I'm so confused, man…

 **Naoki Tsukada:** How do you not know I'm Tennosuke if you never looked at him?

 **Akira Kazue:** The kidnapping video. It showed Tennosuke being stabbed in the stomach with a knife. That would mean, since it's almost a year since then.. There should be a scar on their stomach. At least a faint one… Or maybe even the scar of the sutures that would have to be put in to close that wound.

 **Naoki Tsukada:** You're banking on him having a scar? What about Rio?

 **Akira Kazue:** I checked every single corpse by hand. Not a single one had a scar on their stomach. It would have to be one of us.

 _(Akira pulls up her shirt just enough to show her stomach, which had no scar on it.)_

 __ **Akira Kazue Cont'd:** If you're not afraid to show us you're Tennosuke… Show us the scar on your stomach. I'll implore the rest of you to do the same.

 _(Slowly each student revealed their stomachs. Haru's, Setsuki's, Airi's, Yukiji's were all spotless.)  
_  
 **Akira Kazue Cont'd:** If you don't have a scar, then you're Rio Daisuke!

 **Naoki Tsukada:** Hey, this isn't fair! You're ganging up on me!

 **Haru Yamada:** Show her your stomach, jackass!

 **Naoki Tsukada:** Fine… I will.  
 _  
(Naoki tentatively shows his stomach, having no scar on it as well)  
_  
 **Setsuki Yori:** Akira did it! He has to be Rio Daisuke!

 **Airi Kudo:** But… What about the fact Naoki Tsukada was named Ultimate Lucky Student?

 **Akira Kazue:** They had a gap to change it from the original, since the stories had to line up that Naoki Tsukada was supposed to be the Ultimate Lucky Student. But… hey didn't edit the obituary.

 **Akira Kazue Cont'd:** And I think I can finally solve this case. **The pieces are all coming together!**

 **Akira Kazue Cont'd:**

It all started back when we enrolled for this school. The Culprit, a member of Chaos assigned to start a killing game in Future Crest University. The only problem was, they weren't able to actually join the university and didn't have an enrollment. Somehow, the culprit or one of his co-conspirators noticed that the drawing for Ultimate Lucky student was due, and was won by Tennosuke Koda.

The culprit was most likely a reserve course student, but the culprit quickly changed it so they won the Ultimate Lucky Student, and instead drafted Tennosuke to a reserve course to not raise suspicion about a student suddenly not being able to make it. A few days afterward, they kidnapped Tennosuke to start their body switching plan.

Now as the Ultimate Lucky Student, they stayed with the class to build our trust, and make sure they were in media to make us not suspect them. Then, when it was time to strike, the culprit enacted their plan. They took the kidnapped Tennosuke, and threw him out in front of a car. Tennosuke was killed in a way that disfigured him, and the culprit changed the records to make it look like they died. The culprit proceeded to go into hiding for the time being.

The rest of us continued on with our lives, continuing into christmas and finally into early next year. Then… The massacre happened. The culprit donning a mask, and several armed forces gunned down the entire school except for the class they were part of, and quickly kidnapped them.

They drugged each and every one of us. Giving most of us amnesia, but giving two of us alternate identities. Wakako, and Naoki Tsukada, giving him the name of the culprit to throw us off.

Then, when we refused to kill one another, the culprit had to throw off everyone's trust. And what else could they do, but kill the person whose memories they altered before the facade began to break like Wakako? He grabbed a knife from the kitchen, then used a series of Chutes to launch himself into the third floor, removing bolts from Emi's trap for the mastermind she was trying to catch with Kenji.

The culprit went to Rio's room, bypassing all doors, and not following the door opening motive that we were forced to use. Stabbing a knife into the bed to wake him. Naoki woke to the culprit brandishing a knife, and escaped his room to try and elude the killer. The killer intentionally chased him upstairs. This caused him to run into Emi's modified trap, killing him.

 **Akira Kazue:** This whole plot… The body switching, the drugs, the false identities, and Naoki Tsukada's death is because of you. **Rio Daisuke! The Fake Ultimate Lucky Student!**

 **Airi Kudo:** Well. What do you have to say about that?

 **Akira Kazue:** …

 **Haru Yamada:** Please… I hope we're right.

 **Setsuki Yori:** We've made it so far…

 **Monokuma:** So have we correctly chosen the blackened? Or have you pic-

 _(Naoki's expression changed. Slamming both hands onto his podium and flashing the students his tongue. Revealing an eye, with many arrows carved around it sliced into his tongue to leave an old scar. Small chuckles began to seep through, slowly merging into a sick, rasping laugh, H)  
_  
 **Rio Daisuke:** Kyaaa-hahahaha~ Bravo, Akira… Bravo. I think it's time I turn the bear off.

 _(Rio grabbed a remote from his back pocket and pressed a Monokuma-shaped button, Monokuma then explodes in flames. He gave a raspy laugh, as he started to glare at the police cadet with a cold look in his eyes, alight with hatred and twisted furor.)_

 **Rio Daisuke:** Good job on guessing that 'Rise and Shine' was how you reactivate the Monokumas, by the way. I said that into the microphone to both wake you up, and spite Kenji's attempt to pin Shiro as the culprit. And that was the first thing you thought of when you found the Monokuma machine. Did you suspect me this whole time?

 **Akira Kazue:** I felt something. I didn't want it to be true... Is that why you stuttered when you said it?

 **Rio Daisuke:** Yep. That's right. It's coded for my voice, I would have to misspeak the command or else I would have ousted myself from the get go. You should try being a detective, Akira. You're pretty good. Not like Kenji. He was too easy to string along…

 **Setsuki Yori:** N-Naoki? What are you-

 **Rio Daisuke:** Ah-ah-ah! It's Rio, not Naoki. And what I'm talking is how Kenji was a fuckin' chump.

 **Haru Yamada:** Say that again, you motherfucker!

 **Kiko:** Grrrr!

 **Rio Daisuke:** Well, ya see. I was content to just sit back in my control room, munch on popcorn and watch you guys slaughter each other, but then I saw Kenji slowly spiraling out of control. He had been losing everything around him. He lost Emi, he lost Reiko and now he's lost Hana and Yukata while Shiro kept breathing, Akira and Airi were protecting a murderer and everyone else was on 'their side.'

 **Rio Daisuke Cont'd:** His heart was almost completely lost to despair, he just needed that one last little push and didn't want any of you to do it. So I stuck myself in that glass box and waited for you guys to 'rescue' me. And then I sunk my claws into Kenji. Poor, lonely Kenji. Confused and angry with no one to turn to. Everyone was either on Akira's side like Yukiji and Setsuki, useless like Haru or they were Shiro.

 **Haru Yamada:** Useless?! You fucking-

 **Rio Daisuke:** Spare me, Haru. Maybe if you had done something, Kenji wouldn't have latched onto me. Instead, you lamented that you couldn't do anything over and over and over… Kenji acted because I planted the seed of doubt in his head. Kenji had so little left and I had all those happy memories. All those stories about what it was like when everyone was alive. When we were all friends. He was a junkie for whatever hope I could give him and I gave him his fill. He trusted me and I stayed by his side.

 **Rio Daisuke Cont'd:** I had his trust when Shiro needed it the most. And then I put the seed the doubt in him. And that seed grew into a lovely little flower of distrust and when they flower bloomed, he smashed him in the head with a Monokuma statue.

 **Rio Daisuke Cont'd:** Thought it was a nice touch I crushed Kenji with a giant golden statue of the very same thing he used to attack Shiro with. And seeing all of you guys mill around, broken after Kenji's execution.. The fact it took you guys an entire week before any of you could stomach even trying something was wonderful. And in due time, too… I was getting sick of pretending like I was a milqetoast shitbrain like Kenji or Setsuki.

 **Setsuki Yori:** N-Naoki… I thought you were our friend!

 **Rio Daisuke:** I told you! It's Rio! And I was only pretending to be your friend, you idiot. I'm not the Ultimate Lucky Student or the Ultimate Spelunker. You can call me… the Ultimate Chaos!

 **Rio Daisuke. Ultimate Chaos.**

 **Setsuki Yori:** W-whaa…

 **Yukiji Chimon:** Ultimate Chaos…?

 **Rio Daisuke:** That's right! Everything in this world turns to chaos in the end. Every order we see in life was never designed to be that way. We've made it that way… And we cull disorder to make sure that order never breaks.

 **Rio Daisuke Cont'd:** Who's to say what counts as order? A single glass pane is just one of infinite combinations that the glass to be in, the most ordered possible. If you break the glass, it will have the same chance of landing in any position, as it did the original pane we found it in. The order we found it in, the way it originally was found was manufactured, and to ever put it back into the way we found it, is just as unlikely then ever replicating the first way the glass was destroyed, as to say; never again. Chaos is natural, disorder is natural, entropy is natural.

 **Rio Daisuke Cont'd:** Junko shattered the glass of the structure of society. And fools sit on their knees, taking each broken piece and try to put it back together in the way it used to be, despite that being impossible. That's why people like you make me sick, Akira.

 **Akira Kazue:** I make you sick? _I_ make _you_ sick?! You're a murderer and a monster! And I make you sick?! Why make a killing game!? Why with your friends!?

 **Rio Daisuke:** Fuck yes, you make me sick! With your rules and regulations! All those laws you believe in so dearly! Do you even know who MADE those rules you've set yourself to follow? What if a rule changes, do you have to force yourself to change the rules to fit that new idea of justice!?

 **Rio Daisuke Cont'd:** Your justice is superficial, Akira. A vain reflection of wanting to be a exemplar of good morals. And yet you don't even know what those morals are, unless someone TELLS you what those morals are. You can play as fast and loose as you want as long as you THINK you're doing the right thing. And you still think you're a good person... You're a fucking hypocrite.

 **Rio Daisuke Cont'd:** It's all the same with folks like you, folks like the Future Foundation. Like that cowlicked… worthless waste of semen Makoto Naegi. Acting like running Hope's Peak and just hoping to fucking God that another person doesn't end up like Junko, and act like that's good enough to stop another one from showing up. Acting like hoping is the only thing that can stop me. Stop us!

 **Yukiji Chimon:** …"Us"?

 **Akira Kazue:** He's talking about HAVOC. His clan of fanboys that follow Junko Enoshima.

 **Rio Daisuke:** Fanboy? Follow? FOLLOW!? Motherfucker, I'm the evolution of Junko. I'm the update. Junko 2.0! Junko 360! Her worthless babbling was good to make her sound like a psychopath, but she never had big goals. Her goals were just riots and confusion and despair! I want to break the society that we're obsessed with pursuing.  
 **  
Rio Daisuke Cont'd:** It's funny… She was only a hero to people because of how much attention she got after the Tragedy. Her face was on every news channel… And people like her wanted to be her. Be Junko… Be the sledgehammer through the glass window of this bullshit society! They want to be martyrs… have a movement named after them. Be the hero of anarchy… But they don't have the means. We do.

(Rio snapped his fingers. Every single screen turning black, then displaying the orange HAVOC logo.)

 **Rio Daisuke Cont'd:** We are the ones bringing the world back to where it should be. No rules, no law, no order… Kill or be killed. The only ones who survive are the ones with the strongest resolve, and those who aren't afraid to take that from someone else. No more pussyfooting, no more regulations, no society. No laws. No 'like the way it was.' ...No God. No Government. No money or bribery. No nations. No loyalty. I feel like humanity has to come to face the music that 99.9% of them have done nothing in their life that lets them deserve to fucking live…

 **Akira Kazue:** Wh-what the fuck are you talking about?!

 **Rio Daisuke:** THE DEATH OF SOCIETY, AKIRA!

 **Rio Daisuke Cont'd:** We act like we're good people… Bullshit. We're selfish, hateful, prideful, we hate to be wrong, we hate others for fates that we brought upon ourselves. We hate other people for being different. It's all bullshit. We're all human fucking garbage… We don't deserve to pretend that values or emotions have anything to do with how well you can live your life.

 **Akira Kazue:** I asked you a question… Why a Killing Game?

 **Rio Daisuke:** I want to reveal the world that in every heart lies a snake. I want to show all of you that no matter how nice you are, and no matter how many platitudes you offer… Humanity is selfish, and will kill anyone as soon as they're too inconvenient to keep alive. We do little micro actions that show we find other humans a hinderance… Not returning a phone call, lying to them about being somewhere else… pretending to be broke to not lend out money. Everyone's guilty of it…

 **Rio Daisuke Cont'd:** But… It's a downward spiral. We're all snakes, we'll kill each other the moment we realize we have the opportunity to do it and not be punished for our actions. Your morals? They're all bullshit. You just don't want to get in trouble for wanting to do something for your own personal gain.

 **Rio Daisuke Cont'd:** That's why I picked a killing game, Akira. That's why.

 **Setsuki Yori:** Wh-what? Was th-that even words? Why do you keep t-t-talking if you're not gonna make sense?

 **Rio Daisuke:** You know what happened with the Future Foundation after The Tragedy? They did everything in their power to reset things back to the status quo. Back to 'normal' whatever that means… And their leader tried to force a hypnosis tape to crush the despair out of every single living human being. They failed when the world rebuffed him… And the word got out.

 **Rio Daisuke Cont'd:** Their name was dragged through the mud, and it took years to earn back that reputation. And yet… their attempts to force order only caused more chaos in the end. In order to keep up the delusion of order, they put the vice-leader, Kyosuke Munakata, in charge once the previous leader was killed by Munakata! But he was the vice leader and killing Tengan was justice, right?! They were constantly clinging to this idea that they were in control when their own in-fighting is what set off the "Final" Killing Game. Why do you think they need someone like Airi, who can blend in and not cause any attention? It's because they realized that no one will respect them unless they use subterfuge.

 **Rio Daisuke Cont'd:** Want to hear another desperate, myopic attempt to save face and kill the curse of despair? Orpheus. Future foundation made Orpheus to try and inundate those with despair with hope, trying to reset them back to normal. And it ended up with people like Dahlia… Poor drug fiend.

 **Yukiji Chimon:** Don't call her that…

 **Setsuki Yori:** Wait… F-future Foundation made the memory loss drug? 

**Rio Daisuke:** Yeah, they did! They used the formula made by The Ultimate Chemist, and based it off a similar one Junko used… But added the ability to 'explain' the truth to someone, to force a rewrite on their personality. So, how about that, Airi? Your precious Future Foundation gave us one of the tools to make this Killing Game a reality!

 **Airi Kudo:** N-no…

 **Rio Daisuke:** Of course, Orpheus isn't perfect. I'm sure you know why, Akira. _  
_  
**Akira Kazue: …  
**  
 **Akira Kazue:** Some of the memories leak though… Right?

 **Rio Daisuke:** Correct. It's why you and Miho hooked up again so fast… Why Kenji loved his girlfriend within seconds of seeing her… and why, not matter what I did, Dahlia was always so devoted to Yukiji…

 **Yukiji Chimon:** Stop calling her that! W-what did you do to her!? What did you do to Wakako?!

 **Rio Daisuke:** Oh hey, he spoke up. Good on you, you autistic fuck! Proud of ya.

 **Yukiji Chimon:** W-wha…?

 **Rio Daisuke:** I guess you could say… I had time to kill while I was setting up the Killing Game. All of you were placed in medicated comas… And I needed something to do while I was getting your memories fixed up. Dahlia was always a smart little shit… It pissed me off. She always tried to act like her being smarter than everyone wasn't a big deal, when it pissed people off. 

**Rio Daisuke Cont'd:** So.. I decided to play with her over the last few months. I'd drug her, wake her up in the school, and tell her a different bullshit story every time. I'd get to watch her cry, break down and give up as her memories of Yukiji bled through and made her confused. Sometimes she was a vampire… sometimes she was a lonely girl who got lost… Sometimes she was my servant.

 **Yukiji Chimon:** You… What?

 **Rio Daisuke:** God, are you dense? I drugged Dahlia to the gills to see what would happen to her! She turned into an unhinged psycho. It was fucking hilarious!

 **Yukiji Chimon:** Because she's smart!? Why Wakako!? She didn't deserve it!

 **Rio Daisuke:** I guess you could say... She was my type. And with Orpheus, she couldn't say no.

 **Yukiji Chimon:** ...You… You didn't...

 _(Rio casually began sucking on two of his fingers, glaring at Yukiji with a twisted smile out the side of his mouth, wrapping his tongue around his fingers.)  
_  
 **Yukiji Chimon:** N-No!

 _(Yukiji got off his podium and began to run straight across to try and confront Rio.)  
_  
 **Akira Kazue:** Yukiji! Wait, Please!

(Rio snapped his fingers again, two massive machineguns appearing from the floor and setting their sights on Yukiji.) 

**Rio Daisuke:** Feeling froggy, Yukiji? Not one more step or you'll be a stain on the floor. Got it?

 **Yukiji Chimon:** _(Through anguished tears)_ I… I won't forgive you. I'll never forgive you for this! Even when you're in Hell… I'll go down to it and make sure you never forget what you d-did…

 **Rio Daisuke:** Kya~hahahaha! I don't want your forgiveness, you little fucktard. I'm not here to please you. I'm here to do what I want! Now get back to your podium before I decide to send you to Dahlia in little pieces!

 _(Yukiji, shaking with anger, slowly moved back to his podium.)_

 **Akira Kazue:** Yukiji…?

(Yukiji didn't say anything, eyes sunken as he slowly started to feel a weight on his shoulders)

 **Akira Kazue:** A-are you ok…? Just… nod.. Please?

 **Yukiji Chimon:** …

 **Rio Daisuke:** I haven't had this much fun since 6th grade! Good times… Good times.

 **Haru Yamada:** The fuck'd you do in 6th grade? Kill puppies? How did no one notice you're a sick fuck?

 **Rio Daisuke:** Oh, come on. Killing puppies is too easy. They're so small and they always make the same useless squeaks when you squeeze them so hard their eyes pop out.

 **Kiko:** Grrr!

 **Rio Daisuke:** Shut up, Kiko. I only did that twice.

 **Haru Yamada:** TWICE!?

 **Rio Daisuke:** Look, this isn't about how many dogs I've killed. This is about how I killed thirteen, fourteen of my classmates with the fire axe. It's been so long I lost count.

 **Akira Kazue:** …

 **Setsuki Yori:** Y-you were twelve…

 **Rio Daisuke:** Yeah! I was. It was a little after Junko started her tragedy. She took over the televisions and played her despair tape. My classmate Shoji started a fire. I took a fire axe and chopped him in the throat.

 **Rio Daisuke Cont'd:** It was hilarious. Every person who came across the body? Chop! Add that kid to the pile. It took 13 goddamn stupid 6th graders before they realized to stop going in the room… I only really stopped because swinging that axe because it was heavy as hell. They said I couldn't play for the Marines but I was batting 1000! Fourteen decapitated 12 year olds! Home Run! I'm the Leon Kuwata of mass murder!

 **Rio Daisuke Cont'd** : They didn't let me on the baseball team, though. I blew out my shoulder choppin' little kids heads off.

 **Haru Yamada:** What the actual fuck?!

 **Akira Kazue:** Why aren't you in jail or dead with the amount of terrible things you did. How did you get away with this, you son of a bitch!?

 **Rio Daisuke:** Once again? The Future Foundation. You listening Airi? I know you're blind, so you better be listening to this since you can hear it better!

 **Airi Kudo:** Listening to another one of your lies...

 **Rio Daisuke:** You might think they're lies... but you can't really prove them as such, can ya?

 **Rio Daisuke Cont'd:** Well, the story goes like this. The Tragedy hits. Mass panic, people in the streets, it's raining cats and dogs… and bodies dropping off buildings. Real shitty weather. The police had a problem. When everyone's guilty… What the hell are you gonna do with them? Take them all to jail? Five year olds were drowning kittens! Kids were bringing pistols to the Show n' Tell! Grandpa would break his fingers off and shove em down grandma's throat! You can't possibly convict and arrest them all.

 **Rio Daisuke Cont'd:** And so in swoops the Future Foundation with their solution. 'The Neo World Project' and the RemSnyc technology they developed meant they could put thousands of people in virtual therapy groups.

 **Akira Kazue:** N-Neo World Project?!

 **Rio Daisuke:** Remember what you told Shiro? The police think they can rehabilitate criminals instead of arresting them all. That's exactly what the Future Foundation did, mass virtual reality hug sessions to make people forget about what they did. They stick you in some 'paradise' with a shitty pink bunny who won't stop screeching about "Love! Love!" I just… wanted to claw my fucking eyes out, but then the fucking rabbit would come in and talk about how it does no good to hurt myself and then I'd scream at her to fuck off with a rusty fork and go off to sulk in peace.

 **Rio Daisuke Cont'd:** Anyway, It didn't work because I'm not a stooge, but the Japanese police absolved me of all my crimes, and I got put back in middle school! Ain't that a kick in the head.

 **Akira Kazue:** I don't remember the Tragedy… Was it really so bad they couldn't incarcerate and convict them?

 **Rio Daisuke:** I mean.. I did make sure every one of you didn't remember the Tragedy. The Biggest, Most Awful… eh fuck it. The Tragedy. I'm just gonna call it that. It's too long and I'm sure someone's gonna get on my case about it later, but fuck that noise!

 **Rio Daisuke Cont'd:** You never noticed that you got off easy for crashing a car into a school?

 **Akira Kazue:** I-It was an accident!

 **Rio Daisuke:** You know, I don't know if it was me or the Future Foundation who told you that lie… You wanted to do it. This little rat tooth kid wouldn't shut the hell up. So you wanted to drive a car into his physics class and turn his face into roadkill. The only problem is you broke 5 ribs plowing through the wall.

 **Rio Daisuke Cont'd:** So Future Foundation found you, rewrote your personality and made you a Schweet Widdle Cop Cadet! Awwww.

 **Akira Kazue:** Wh-what?! No, that's wrong!

 **Rio Daisuke:** This ain't a debate, sweetie. You can't fire your little truth bullets to counter the cold, hard fact of what the Future Foundation did to your brain.

 **Akira Kazue:** I rehabilitated on my own! What are you talking about!?

 **Rio Daisuke:** Future Foundation done gave you brain damage, Akira! They thought it was the only way to make you a good person again. And then I decided to add on the brain damage by scrubbing out some memories while we were getting this University set up! You're a couple more injections from being a fuckbrained nutcase like Dahlia. Hope you like that little thought.

 **Yukiji Chimon:** ...

 **Akira Kazue:** H-how is virtual rehabilitation brain damage!?

 **Rio Daisuke:** Because it's not meant for you to come to terms with your own problems! They create a copy of you to overwrite the original! They don't fix you… They **REPLACE** you, Akira.

 **Rio Daisuke:** They try to take your body… and put another consciousness in it. The consciousness THEY want. Your true identity is obliterated from orbit, and you end up a cartoon character instead. Just. Like. Dahlia.

 **Yukiji Chimon:** …

 **Akira Kazue:** I'm not… me?

 **Rio Daisuke:** Annnnyway. Junko Enoshima started the first few killing games, then her AI was infested a version of the Neo World program. Then the idea of her and Monokuma shot to the stars… Her followers did more damage than she ever did.

 **Rio Daisuke Cont'd:** And hey. HAVOC managed to raid some nuclear missile silos. Junko never did any of that shit.

 **Airi Kudo:** You what?!

 **Rio Daisuke:** It's weird, right?! America just has the laziest fucking nuke silo security in the world. It was just one sleepy guy looking at a calculator. I garotted him and got the codes. Then we took that shit and hauled it to Japan! I have three warheads aimed at this very school, assigned to fire the moment I die.

 **Airi Kudo:** No…

 **Rio Daisuke:** Yep!

 **Akira Kazue:** The military would want to stop you!

 **Rio Daisuke:** They can't.

 **Airi Kudo:** What next? You stole the military? Or some kind of nonsense you made up just so you sound edgy or shocking?

 **Rio Daisuke:** No… Because they don't want to stop me. They know EXACTLY what I'm doing!

 **Airi Kudo:** Explain. Now.

 **Rio Daisuke:** What if I told you everything that's happened to you guys has been broadcasted across the globe over the last three or four weeks?

 **Akira Kazue:** Wh-what?!

 **Haru Yamada:** Broadcasted? What kind of joke is this?!

 **Setsuki Yori:** I-it's not v-very funny!

 **Airi Kudo:** You couldn't have…

 **Rio Daisuke:** Welcome to Danganronpa XX, boys n' girls!

 _(The Danganronpa logo, with an XX affixed beside it appeared on all the screens surrounding them, bathing the room in white.)  
_  
 **Haru Yamada:** The fuck's a Danganronpa?

 **Rio Daisuke:** I was gonna call it Shooty Refutey but I felt like this name was better. I mean, I guess you could call it BulletProof…

 **Haru Yamada:** I said what the fuck is Danganronpa?!

 **Rio Daisuke:** A real life Killing Game, broadcasted via livestream! We've gotten over 30 million unique visitors to our little HAVOC-run website!

 **Airi Kudo:** You're LIVESTREAMING THIS!?

 **Rio Daisuke:** Say hi to mommy, Airi! Just kidding, you're adopted.

 **Airi Kudo:** …F-fuck you...

 **Setsuki Yori:** W-w-w-w-we-

 **Rio Daisuke** _ **(Mockingly)**_ **:** Wuh-wuh-wuh-wuh. Quit stuttering!

 _(Setsuki began to cry, gritting her teeth.)_

 __ **Setsuki Yori:** You showed all my friends dying on livestream? And people watched it!? How… How could you!?

 **Rio Daisuke:** Streaming worldwide, mind you.

 **Haru Yamada:** WHY!?

 **Rio Daisuke:** Optics. Killing 16 students? That won't get me anything… If one makes it out, does that mean I win? No. Of course not. For this killing game to work… for it to influence the masses and kill the mundane society we live in… Everyone has to see what's happening.

 **Rio Daisuke Cont'd:** Every tragedy needs witnesses. Otherwise, if no one's going to be upset about it. It wouldn't be a tragedy. Investment is what makes a tragedy a tragedy.

 **Haru Yamada:** Just.. I don't understand. How does anyone enjoy this? Why watch real people die?

 **Rio Daisuke:** Kya~hahahaha! You guys just fuckin' amuse me, thinking that your useless hope carries through the world. If there was one thing Junko Enoshima got right, it's just how infectious despair is. People want to see other people suffer. Vicariously, it makes them feel like their lives are better by seeing other people suffer. They get high on their love of seeing pain… It's why they always look at car accidents when they pass by.

 **Rio Daisuke Cont'd:** They want to say… They hope everyone's okay. But they hope one driver is wrapped around a telephone pole and all his kids are skewered on broken glass. They want the other driver dead in a fire, body charred so he can't move. They want the most suffering possible.. They'll never admit it. But they know who they are. Call it schadenfreude. Call it sociopathy… But it's all the same. People want others to suffer, or they don't feel alive.

 **Rio Daisuke Cont'd:** Millions of people watch Danganronpa… In every country of the world. They fucking adore this format… They drool over it. They've formed fandoms over it.

 **Setsuki Yori:** But.. We're Japanese. How will they know what's going on?

 **Rio Daisuke:** Funny that. Conveniently… Some dedicated fans have been actively translating it for us in different languages! It's fun for every country to watch a bunch of teenagers suffer and die horribly.

 _(Rio pressed a button on his remote, the monitors changing to the Trial Room. There was the words 'The Final Class Trial' floating behind each student's heads. It also had a bar stating who was talking, along with a transcript of their speech. Setsuki looked at her face on the monitors, stunned)_

 **Setsuki Yori:** W-wait! Akira, they're dubbing us!?

 **Rio Daisuke:** There's a slight delay, to make sure we can translate it.

 _(Rio then hit a button. The feed cutting, the subtitles reading in different languages, and Setsuki's voice changing to different ones to dub her in that language.)  
_  
 **English Setsuki:** Wait, Akira-San, they're translating us!?

 **French Setsuki:** Attends, Akira, ils nous doublent!?

 **Spanish Setsuki:** Espera, Akira. Estamos siendo doblados!?

 **Korean Setsuki:** Jamkkan, Akira. uli deobing dwaess-eo!?

 **Airi Kudo:** These dubs sound terrible. Are they just putting them through Google Translate during the delay?

 **Rio Daisuke:** Shut your mouth, Kudo.

 _(Rio kept the trial footage going, but muted the audio.)_

 **Rio Daisuke:** It's really silly. Every language has its own pop culture. We have to constantly slip in and out references so that audience gets it. Japanese people get anime references, English people get obscure 90's pop songs… French people get… Whatever French people like.

 **Akira Kazue:** Wait… is that why all the Full-Scale Debates used hashtags? All the Monokuma branding… it was all for the benefit of the audience?!

 **Rio Daisuke:** Oh, hell yeah! Monokuma wasn't lying about that. He wanted to increase interactivity with the people watching. HAVOC might be about suffering, but who wants to watch a boring uninteractive stream? Oh, and by the way, #PursueKenji was #1 trending in Japan and the U.S. during the last Class Trial! Good job, Akira!

 **Akira Kazue:** Shut up...

 **Rio Daisuke:** Wanna know the best part? Since I'm the host of the show… I've told people several times you're all paid actors, and if you get fussy, that's just because you haven't been paid enough.

 **Akira Kazue:** W-what… Why would someone do that!?

 **Rio Daisuke:** Heh, muddying the waters works out great. As soon as I said that, half the audience lost their sympathy for you guys.

 **Haru Yamada:** But.. We're not characters! We're not!

 **Rio Daisuke:** I said you are a character… No one needs to believe anything you'll say. They won't get in trouble… There won't be any consequences because of this. Why would anyone worry?

 **Setsuki Yori:** But that's wrong! We're real people! We have families!

 **Rio Daisuke:** What was that…? Are you bitching about not being paid enough so you want to tank my show? Be sure to downvote Setsuki's actress for her belligerence…

 **Setsuki Yori:** I'M REAL, GODDAMNIT!

 **Rio Daisuke:** THEN WHY DID YOU SIGN THE CONTRACT!?

 **Setsuki Yori:** C-contract…? I…

 **Rio Daisuke:** You signed a contract, Setsuki. So did every single one of you here. You agreed to this.

 **Haru Yamada:** Bullshit! When the fuck did I sign anything?!

 **Rio Daisuke: Kyaaaa-hahahaha~**

 **Rio Daisuke:** Okay, I can see why you guys do that! It's really fun! Anyway, I got footage of all you guys signing contracts.

 **Rio Daisuke Cont'd:** In fact… Thanks to Masato. He knew exactly who we should have in this killing game!

 _(The Display became the footage of the student interviews. Each one sitting down at Masato Inoue's voice spoke to each one. Kenji, Setsuki, Haru, and everyone else signing their names)_

 **Jumbled Masato Inoue Recordings:** Please…. Sign here… Complete the application… Sign here…. Please sign here… Thank you for your time... Sign here.

 _(Every student, barring Airi and Rio were seen signing a contract)  
_

 **Rio Daisuke:** You see… I didn't pick you to be in the killing game because you were in my class… You were in my class, because you were going to be a killing game! It wasn't fate… It wasn't destiny. It was choice! Your choice.

 **Setsuki Yori:** Why the fuck would I choose to be in a killing game!?

 **Rio Daisuke:** You didn't read the contract, you fucking moron. NO ONE reads the contract, apparently! Read your EULA, numbskull.

 **Akira Kazue:** The headmaster was in on this?

 **Rio Daisuke:** Why do you think no one helped you until you contacted the Future Foundation? Masato had you in his trap. He worked for us, and you were the suckers who fell for him switching the real contract with this one.

 **Akira Kazue:** I don't get it. Why make us sign a contract!?

 **Rio Daisuke:** Moooostly so I can tell you I'm right. And that you're a worthless hack who signed a contract and reneged out of it when you found out the clauses in it.

 **Airi Kudo:** I don't believe I signed a contract of any kind.

 **Rio Daisuke:** You tried to rescue them, that's just as bad.

 **Akira Kazue:** THIS ISN'T A SHOW!Someone has to notice and stop this! 

**Rio Daisuke:** Darling, we're so far into Danganronpa that the XX? That's the 20th one. We have fans world wide waiting for something like this. And HAVOC wanted to deliver.

 **Rio Daisuke Cont'd:** Wanna know something funny? We had a character poll post Class Trial 3. Shiro's character rating was a meager 2.3%. I wanted to kill him off so our viewership wouldn't plunge. Then Yukata went and did some weird shit

 _(The screens revealed the results of that character poll. With Kenji in first place, and Akira coming up fourth place. Miho was second, and Yukata placed third)_

 **Rio Daisuke Cont'd:** The worst part? Here's the ratings after Kenji killed Shiro.

(The poll updated to show Akira was still in fourth place, Yukata dropped down several ranks to be replaced with Airi, and Shiro placed second)

 **Rio Daisuke Cont'd:** Poor Akira… People still don't like you as much as they liked the Kenji-Shiro feud. You're kind of a shit main character.

 **Akira Kazue:** Fuck you! I'm not a main character! I'm not an actress! I'm Akira! I had a girlfriend! I watched my best friends die! I watched everyone I cared about get fucking brutally torn apart! And you have the fucking NERVE to call us actors!? Fuck everything you stand for, you human fucking sack of GARBAGE!

 **Airi Kudo:** I stand with Akira. There's no way people can be this depraved… There has to be some kind of counter to this insanity. Some resistance, or pushback to broadcasting a live killing game.

 **Rio Daisuke:** I guess the problem here is I think people are tired of seeing people saying Hope will make the world a better place. It's just platitudes… Hope doesn't get you anything, it's just a word. It never ends up being followed with anything. You say it and.. Then do nothing.

 **Akira Kazue:** Someone has to be looking for us!

 **Rio Daisuke:** Ahahahaha… No. Did you know people are such fans of this show, they follow it and upload their own content obsessively? I mean, look at this garbage!

 _(Rio hit another button, dozens of video links appearing, each one with a thumbnail of one of the students of Class 36 with ridiculous titles such as "Top Ten Danganronpa Protagonists (That are Better than Kenji)" "Top 5 Sickest Danganronpa XX Burns" "Talents we want to see in Danganronpa XXI" "Is Haru a Token LGBT character? A Thesis." "Shiro Kiruma: Character Analysis")  
_  
 **Haru Yamada:** W… What is this absolute garbage I'm looking at…? There's…. Videos about us!?

 **Rio Daisuke:** What can I say? HAVOC's got a following for Danganronpa XX. People like you guys. They told me doing a classic killing game in a school, not on a beach or with giant robots, or in space would be blase… But it's a dark horse!

 **Akira Kazue:** Rio… You're nineteen kinds of fucked up.

 **Airi Kudo:** Some fans have to dislike this… Some fans have to have heard our pleas. Please… Everyone watching this, or reading this at home. We're trapped in here. Send help! Contact the Future Foundation! WE. ARE NOT. ACTORS.

 **Akira Kazue:** We're not actors!

 **Setsuki Yori:** We…. We're...

 **Haru Yamada:** We're not actors!

 **Yukiji Chimon:** Please… Save us.

 **Rio Daisuke:** Let's hear it from the boys back home! How about a poll? "Do you want this killing game to end?" If we get enough yes votes, then Akira gets to hold everyone's hands and skip their way outta this school! How bout it?

 **Akira Kazue:** THIS ISN'T A GAME!

 **Airi Kudo:** We're all suffering here… And you're gonna leave it to a poll?

 **Rio Daisuke:** Yeah. I am. Got a problem with it? C'mon boys n girls! The vote's in the chat! You have a minute to type your replies!

 **Akira Kazue:** I can't fucking believe this! ...This is complete fucking nonsense. Danganronpa XX is awful.

 **Rio Daisuke:** Don't say that. You'll cause more people to vote against you! Are you dumb!?

(There was a brief silence as the two glared at each other)

 **Rio Daisuke:** The poll's in… Let's check the results. __

 _Do you want this killing game to end?_

 _ **No: 76%  
**_ _Yes: 24%_

 **Akira Kazue:** …

 **Airi Kudo:** I literally can't read the results.

 **Akira Kazue:** You're all fucking monsters… 76% no…

 **Setsuki Yori:** W-why…

 **Haru Yamada:** G-goddamn it… Does anyone watching this have feelings!?

 **Rio Daisuke:** Oh, there's plenty of people who don't watch it. But.. people who do? They love this. You won't be able to convince them… They're fans. They'll love anything you show them if it has the name.

 **Setsuki Yori:** Ahhhhhh! Shut up! SHUT UP!

 _(Setsuki began to rip out her hair.)_

 **Rio Daisuke:** What's wrong? Not a fan?

 **Setsuki Yori:** STOP!

 **Haru Yamada:** Kiko… I'm real, right? Y-you know me, it's me, Haru!

 **Akira Kazue:** …

 **Rio Daisuke:** The truth is… Most of these people hate the Future Foundation. Honestly… If the Future Foundation stopped this game, the fans would rip your throat open and impale you on a spike. You don't want to upset them by forcing the end of the killing game, do you? Do you wanna hurt the people who like you, Akira?

 **Akira Kazue:** I… I don't know them! They're watching us die! They're not my friends!

 **Rio Daisuke: Kya~hahahaha!**

 **Rio Daisuke Cont'd:** The fans want to see your blood, Akira! They want to see Airi choke on her words. They want to see her lose.

 **Airi Kudo:** What kind of… wretched world do we live in…? 

**Akira Kazue:** If that's the thing people want… IF THAT'S WHAT THEY WANT… I refuse to play this killing game any more.

 **Airi Kudo:** I just… Why us? Why here…?

 **Rio Daisuke:** Besides, why would you want to leave here?

 **Akira Kazue:** Because you're a fucking lunatic and want us to murder each other?

 **Rio Daisuke:** But Akira… You won't have a good fate outside of here, either! Have you ever seen the force of a spited fanbase?  
 **Rio Daisuke Cont'd:** Especially if they're fans of this killing game. Ruin the status quo or piss off fans of a certain character, as soon as you leave here they'll rip out your throat. Do you really want to piss off the fans?

 **Akira Kazue:** Fuck the fans!

 **Rio Daisuke:** And anyways… I do have several nuked pinned on this place to fire within 10 minutes of my death, remember Are you going to be spiteful enough to blow the school up with a nuke while you're inside it just because you don't like the fans? That's selfish of you, Akira.  
 **  
Akira Kazue:** The barrier you set up should protect us!

 **Rio Daisuke:** About that…. It's a fake. It's just an electric barrier. It shocks you when you run into it, that's all. It's just so you don't leave… I gave you guys food, I gave you fame. What the fuck would you be doing if you weren't here? It's not like the worlds a good place to live after the tragedy. We're just pretending everything's fine because that's the narrative Future Foundation wants.

 **Akira Kazue:** I want the killing game to end. You can't fucking make up a reason for me wanting to keep going.

 **Rio Daisuke:** What if I told you if you left, I would force you to doom two of your friends as well?  
 **  
Akira Kazue:** You can't do that!

 **Rio Daisuke:** I CAN DO WHATEVER THE FUCK I WANT! It's my killing game! You have no power, you have no choice. MY RULES are the only ones that matter. If you leave, you have to leave how I WANT you to leave.

 **Setsuki Yori:** N-no…

 **Rio Daisuke:** No?

 **Setsuki Yori:** We won't do that! We're not killing our friends!

 **Haru Yamada:** Yeah! We've seen enough death!

 **Rio Daisuke:** So you wanna stay in the killing game, boys and girls?

 **Yukiji Chimon:** No…

 **Rio Daisuke:** And… You don't want to end the killing game, but sacrifice two of your friends.

 **Akira Kazue:** Never. Go to hell, Rio.

 **Rio Daisuke Cont'd:** Option 3 is I gun all of you down now and render this whole thing pointless. If this is the finale, we're MAKING it a finale, goddamnit! These are the only choices you get to make! It's the only choice you'll EVER get! It's either this, or you all DIE.

 **Rio Daisuke:** You did successfully pin me as the culprit for Naoki's murder. So how about this? You get to end the killing game. But.. It'll be on my terms. I've come to terms with my own rules… I'm The Blackened, so I'll be punished regardless. But.. how about this, Akira?

 **Akira Kazue:** …

 **Rio Daisuke:** We hold a simple vote… Continue the killing game… or end the killing game. The audience won't be involved this time. But… As a punishment for your announcement to end the killing game… you have to pick two more people to sacrifice themselves to the cause.

 **Akira Kazue:** W...Wha..?

 **Rio Daisuke:** You heard me. You continue the killing game until only 2 are left alive… Or you save 3 people, and you kill me, and punish two other people. How about it, Akira? Each one of you can vote for this.

 **Akira Kazue:** Why… Why would I ever damn two people to that fate with you?

 **Rio Daisuke:** Would you rather have them stay here forever, or until you murder each other? You could always just live here… have kids… and have your fans lose interest in you. They'll move on. I'll keep you stuck here, and HAVOC will find more fresh faced kids to be stuck in a killing game until the world realizes that these won't stop until they learn their lesson about society.

 **Airi Kudo:** What do you mean by sacrifice?

 **Rio Daisuke:** ...The two people you guys choose to sacrifice will be in another killing game.

 **Akira Kazue:** And… Everyone else will be safe?

 **Rio Daisuke:** You have my word.

 **Akira Kazue:** ...

 **Rio Daisuke:** By the way… 91% of people want to see Danganronpa XXI. I'm very sure they would like to see one of you in it too, if you survive to the end…

 _(Akira slowly began to sink down, pressing her face into the podium as tears began to soak her face.)_

 **Akira Kazue:** W… Why do I have to decide..? Who has to be in another killing game? Why… Is this suffering enough? You have to drag more people into this!? 11 of us are dead! And you want us to start all over or stay here!?

 **Rio Daisuke:** Really, I don't get why you want to leave. Hrm.. maybe you don't get just what's out there...

 **Rio Daisuke Cont'd:** Kenji said it… None of you would kill each other. Right? So staying here would mean you're all safe. You'll be happy together… The people watching your stream will get bored and leave… I'll probably leave, turn off the Monokumas, and keep you in the school. 

**Rio Daisuke Cont'd:** But if you leave here, you become targets of HAVOC, you'll be abandoned by the Future Foundation, you'll be picked apart by the fanbase…. But that all doesn't matter, right? Your stubborn hope is telling you that you'll endure all that. Even then… You'll probably cause an international incident once it's found out an American nuke was fired in Japan...

 **Akira Kazue:** ...

 **Rio Daisuke:** Ain't it a fun idea, Akira? You leaving could start World War Three!

 **Akira Kazue:** …

 _(Akira spat at him.)_

 **Rio Daisuke:** But you're still finding some way to spin it in your head. Trying to find some way to hope your way out of this, despite the fact that the moment those doors open, you're entering Hell on Earth. How in the hell do I break you…? Oh shit! I forgot! Sawako!

 **Akira Kazue:** Huh? Who's… Who's Sawako?

 **Rio Daisuke:** Oh right, Orpheus. Of course you don't remember Sawako Taisei.

 _(Akira's eyes widened.)_

 **Rio Daisuke:** Ah, there we go! How about it, Akira? You get out of this school and if she's even still alive out there, you have to tell Sawako why her baby boy isn't coming back.

 **Rio Daisuke Cont'd:** I mean.. Isn't it enough that Kenji went missing after the Future Crest Massacre, that Daddy Taisei hung himself in a closet during a business trip to Hong Kong? Then she gets word from one of his closest friend at Future Crest that he went insane, murdered another student and then was buried alive… And it was all broadcasted live on the internet? And it was all your fault!

 **Akira Kazue:** St-s-stop... Y-you forced me to do it! W-we had no choice! You put us in situations where we had to kill each other… And you're gonna blame us for it!?

 **Rio Daisuke:** Oh yes, that's what Sawako is gonna want to hear. Some crazy guy made him do it. You know, at least Minoru Ishii didn't have to outlive his daughter... hold a service... visit her grave…

 **Akira Kazue:** Wh-what?!

 **Rio Daisuke:** Oh yeah, he's dead too. See, as soon as the Massacre happened and Miho went missing, Minoru thought this was a ransom threat by the Kuzuryuu Clan. He started jumping any member he could find, demanding Miho back.

 **Rio Daisuke Cont'd:** He got beaten to death with bags full of yen. Then got his cock sliced off, and stuffed in his mouth. They mailed the body to his wife. At least Miho's dead and doesn't have to think about it.

 **Akira Kazue:** You… bastard…

 **Rio Daisuke:** So… Are you sure you wanna leave, Akira? You have to vote on who gets sacrificed… Who gets to be stuck in a killing game.

 **Rio Daisuke Cont'd:** Do you think Haru has it in his heart to kill someone else? Maybe he can get his dog to do it. Oh! How about Yukiji? He's a kitten, and do you want to damn him by putting his life in the mercy of fifteen other students you don't even know?

 **Rio Daisuke Cont'd:** Setsuki can barely hold herself together. I kind of expected her to throw herself off a building already with how horribly broken she's ending up.

 **Akira Kazue:** Shut. Up…

 **Rio Daisuke:** Airi's blind now, isn't she? She might be a martial artist, but now she's a cripple. Easy prey…

 **Rio Daisuke Cont'd:** Do you want to decide their fate!? Or do you want to pack up now and attempt to salvage what little you have of your lives and stay in the school!?

 **Airi Kudo: I refuse to give in to meager threats!**

 **Rio Daisuke:**...Huh?

 **Airi Kudo:** I'll do it.

 **Akira Kazue:** Wha…?

 **Airi Kudo:** It was my job to save you guys… And I failed. I did everything I could, but I failed time and time again… If its any burden off your heart Akira… I'll gladly join another killing game, if it means some of you can get home safe tonight. I want to believe in you. I want to believe in all of us… That the people I save can help end the other killing games once they start.

 **Rio Daisuke:** Then what should you do, Akira!? Who are you going to sacrifice!?

 _(Debate Starts)  
_  
 **Rio Daisuke:** Cmon' Akira… What do you say? You get to choose people's fate tonight. Do you vote to stay, or to sacrifice others…?

 **Akira Kazue:** …

 **Rio Daisuke:** Airi's a shoe-in. So… Who else do you want to join her?

 **Airi Kudo: Have faith, Akira!**

 **Rio Daisuke:** No matter what, Someone's going to be put in danger… the fans want this killing game to continue. And you have to cave to those demands as long as you're in my school. I make the rules, Kazue… And you have to follow them.

 **Setsuki Yori: Akira… Please! Don't lose hope.**

 **Rio Daisuke:** The entire world will know the faults of it's garbage system! The entire world will know the pillars this system is built on can't work! HAVOC will break the faults of society down, and what comes out of it will be the future of humanity!

 **Haru Yamada: Akira. You're strong enough to take anything head-on. Please… Save your friends! We'll save you too!**

 **Rio Daisuke:** All roads lead to Despair, Akira. You'll have to suffer no matter what choice you make.

 **Yukiji Chimon: The Akira I know wouldn't cave to threats… Don't give up hope.**

 **Rio Daisuke:** What do you say, Akira!?

 **Akira Kazue: You'll never break our resolve! Not now! And not EVER!**

 **Rio Daisuke:** Woah! Saucy.

 **Akira Kazue:** I choose to sacrifice myself. And Airi chose to join me. Is that the choice you wanted to hear!? Airi and I are going to be in the next killing games! Yukiji, Haru, and Setsuki get to walk free. Do you want that to be my answer you son of a bitch!?

 **Haru Yamada:** You absolutely disgusting fucking monster of a person.

 **Airi Kudo:** You detestable, Despair ridden sociopath.

 **Yukiji Chimon:** You're a piece of shit, Rio…

 **Setsuki Yori:** Yeah! Go to hell, Rio! Just let us vote so we can get rid of your stupid face!

 **Rio Daisuke: AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAA!**

 **Rio Daisuke Cont'd:** Alright! Akira chooses Airi and Akira as her sacrifices, on top of a guilty verdict for me.

 **Rio Daisuke:** It's… VOTING TIME!

(Akira's podium lit up, showing the five remaining students with all other options greyed out. Akira pressed the buttons for herself and Airi.)

 _ **SACRIFICE**_

 _ **AKIRA KAZUE AND AIRI KUDO HAVE CHOSEN TO JOIN THE NEXT KILLING GAME**_

 **Rio Daisuke:** A bit anticlimactic, but hey, we've been going at 100 miles an hour, it's a good time to slow down.

 **Yukiji Chimon:** Akira…

 **Setsuki Yori:** Airi…

 **Haru Yamada:** Are you two sure about this? Are… Are you really wanting to do another killing game without us?

 **Akira Kauze:** It's not like I want to… But… I can't sacrifice someone else. It's selfish of me… And I want to have faith in you guys. Faith that you'll come rescue me before I'm killed.

 **Airi Kudo:** I've lived so far… Even though I was captured for failing my mission. I should have died so many times… It's my job to protect the rest of you. And if I have to sacrifice myself to do it… I don't care. I was born to be expendable.

 **Setsuki Yori:** But… You're blind now. How will you be okay? Won't you be at a huge disadvantage?

 **Airi Kudo:** I'll just have to deal with that…

 **Akira Kazue:** If I can lead you guys to the end of this killing game somehow… I think I can lead the next killing game to the end too. And… That time, I'll be prepared. And we'll win.

 **Rio Daisuke:** And now… The fun part. My execution.

 **Akira Kazue:** Just to let you know… If you put us in the next two killing games… I swear on the life of my dead friends that we'll tear HAVOC to the fucking ground. Isn't that right, Airi?

 **Airi Kudo:** Right.

 **Rio Daisuke:** Just keep in mind… The moment I die, the nuclear weapons will be fired at the school. You'll have roughly 5 minutes to escape.

 **Haru Yamada:** …Take these bastards down, Akira. I believe in you.

 **Yukiji Chimon:** You and Airi can do anything.

 **Setsuki Yori:** We'll rescue the shit outta you! Don't worry about us!

 **Akira Kazue:** _(Smiles)_ Thanks guys… __Knowing you guys have my back makes me feel a little bit better.

 **Airi Kudo:** Just… Do what we've done here, Akira. Both of us should stay strong.

 _(Rio suddenly pulls a revolver from his pocket and holds it up to his head.)_

 **Rio Daisuke:** Guess this is it, huh?

 **Setsuki Yori:** Eat a dick, Rio.

 **Akira Kazue:** Thanks Setsuki.

 **Setsuki Yori:** Kick some ass, get everyone out of the next killing game, you two!

 **Airi Kudo:** With pleasure.

 **Akira Kazue:** Setsuki… Yukiji… Haru… Find Saya Kiruma… And then try and find us, alright?

 **Kiko:** Arf!

 **Haru Yamada:** Aye aye!

 **Setuski Yori:** You got it, Akira…

 **Yukiji Chimon:** We'll come find you, and Saya too.

 **Akira Kazue:** Thanks guys… I knew I could count on you.

 **Rio Daisuke:** Let's give it everything we've got. Punishment time. 

_(Rio calmly hits the red button at the Monokuma Podium.)_

 **GAME OVER**

 **RIO DAISUKE HAS BEEN FOUND GUILTY**

 **IT'S SACRIFICE TIME**

 **Rio Daisuke: Showtime!**


	70. EXECUTION 6

**EXECUTION 6: THE SEQUEL HOOK**

The trial room began to suddenly shake, a loud banging echoed throughout. "What the hell is that?!" Akira asked, eyes darting throughout the trial room. The lights flickered and dimmed before turning back to normal.

"It's coming from the roof! Rio, you bastard! You didn't-" Airi shouted.

"Nope. Like I said, the nukes won't go off until my deadman switch turns off. AKA, when my brains are splattered on the tiles." Rio explained, scratching at his neck as he spun the chamber of the revolver.

"Then what the hell is that?!" Haru exclaimed, holding a shaking Kiko.

"Bookends!" Rio replied as the banging got louder and the shaking more violent. A sudden violent burst came from behind, the students turning around to see a pair of metal lockers buried into the floor, surrounded by the debris from the roof they smashed through, causing a crater in the floor and sending up dirt, tiles and concrete. Each one shot their doors open, revealing each one had a chain collar coiled up, rockets on each side of each collar.

"Rocket collars! Go!" Rio cried out, slamming his fist onto the podium, the collars firing and hitting Akira and Airi in the throat, the chains revealing a winch on the back of each locker as each one clasped shut on their necks. "Anything you wanna tell your little friends, ladies?"

"Setsuki, if we never see each other again, I want you to know that no matter what I've said, you're one of the things that kept me going…" Airi said. "You deserve to be called a best friend by anyone you meet. And… damn it, you're my best friend."

"Airi… I c-can't... this isn't…" Setsuki said, trying to fight back tears. "I don't know what to say…"

"Nothing. Just shut up and hug me." Airi said, holding her arms out. Setsuki leapt from her podium, latching onto Airi into a tight hug.

"Don't die on me, Airi! I owe you for saving me, and I'm gonna save you back!" Setsuki cried out, tears streaking down her face. 

Airi responded by just putting a hand on her head and offering a smile. "You owe me." She said back. "And I'm gonna make sure you pay me back." She added, making Setsuki smile and tightened her grip on Airi.

"I will! I promise…" Setsuki choked out.

"Now stop crying already. You're getting my shoulder wet." Airi said, Setsuki pulling away and wiping her tears on her sleeve.

"You guys… I'm sorry I couldn't save everyone. I tried my best, but… I feel like I made a lot of mistakes to get us where we are now… but I'm not gonna let those mistakes ruin me! I'm gonna put an end to the Killing Games… I'm going to end HAVOC!" Akira shouted out, wiping her own tears from her eyes. "I know Future Foundation did some bad things in its past… But they're our best chance. Help them however you can!"

"I will! I'll do everything I can, right Kiko?!" Haru exclaimed, getting a determined bark from Kiko.

"Akira…" Yukiji said, hiding himself into his shirt.

"I believe in you, Yukiji. You're gonna be okay… You're tougher than you look." Akira said with a little sigh. "Just… Set up a memorial for Wakako, alright? She deserves it."

"Yeah…" Yukiji said, looking away from Akira. "Just… There's so much I wish I could have done to stop this."

"Just.. focus on how you're gonna live your life from this point onward. We can't change what happened… only come to terms with it." Akira said, looking away and rubbing her own shoulder.

"But… what if someone tries to kill you!?" Yukiji asked, concern breaking through his usually listless voice.

"It's hard to kill me, Yukiji." Akira said with an awkward chuckle. "And I promise that we'll meet again. Give it a few months, alright?"

"Okay… be safe, Akira." Yukiji said, Akira giving a thumbs up.

"I will." she said, getting a thumbs-up in response. "Alright, Rio. Do your worst. Just know the moment you pull that chain, you're going to be putting the first step of HAVOC's defeat into motion." Akira said, pointing at Rio with a serious look in her eyes.

"With pleasure. I've heard enough sappy stuff for one lifetime!" Rio said, waving the remote in his hand. He pressed the button, the jets firing from each collar and dragging the two back until each one slammed into a locker, the door shutting itself as they nearly fell over. Rockets activated from under the lockers and smashing through another section of the roof, sending rubble and dust everywhere.

"Well if that doesn't alert the Future Foundation, maybe the nukes will." Rio said, spinning the chamber of the gun. "By the way… Not gonna give you a countdown when those missiles hit. Run, and keep fucking running before the past catches up and turns you to dust in its wake... Sayonara." he spat out venomously as he held the pistol to his temple.

Without another word, Rio pulled the trigger. There was a flash and an ear ringing bang as the new hole in his head splattered blood and brain on the floor and the podiums. His dead body fell to the floor, everyone recoiling in horror.

"H-Holy shit!" Haru yelled. "Did he ju-" He said, covering his mouth.

"Oh God!" Yukiji exclaimed, covering his eyes. Setsuki covered her mouth, trying to fight back bile.

"I ca- I can-" Setsuki shouted, before vomiting on the floor with a wretched gasp.

"We need to go! He said this place is gonna be blown to hell any minute now! Get to the elevator!" Haru shouted, picking up Kiko and running over to Yukiji. Haru hoisted the chessmaster over his shoulder and rushing him to the elevator. "Come on, Setsuki! Move yer ass!"

"I'm trying! R-rio just! H-he just..!" Setsuki stammered out when Haru yanked her from her podium.

"Forget about it! Elevator! Now!" Haru screamed, as he dragged the two of them to the elevator. The lights began to shut off, including the lights to the elevator. Haru quickly setting them down, but the elevator not moving.

"Why isn't it going?" Setsuki asked, Haru punching the floor to try and turn it on.

"The power's going out. We gotta find another way up." Yukiji replied.

"T-the ladder! There's a ladder down here that leads out!" Setsuki said, Haru immediately throwing both of them back over his shoulder.

"THEN WE'LL GO TO THE LADDER!" He shouted, Haru was strong as a bear, easily hauling two other people and a dog like it was nothing.

"H-Haru! Calm down! You're grabbing too hard!" Setsuki said, squirming somewhat.

"I DON'T NEED TO BE CALM! I'M SAVING YOUR ASSES!" Haru shouted. "WE'RE GETTING OUT OF HERE ALIVE, GODDAMMIT!" Running as fast his heavy body could pull him.

Haru lept slamming his leg into the door of the trial room with his entire weight breaking it off the hinges and sending it to the floor with a THUMP. "I AM A MOTHER. FUCKING. FRIEND SAVING… MACHIIIIIIINE!" He bellowed out, kicking down another door as he made his way to the extremely long ladder out of the bunker.

"Okay, Haru. I think I'm good!" Setsuki said, shuffling to get off of him. "Annnd… Running leap!" Setsuki shouted, running to the ladder and leaping as high as she could. Climbing the ladder nearly three times as fast as they were climbing down it earlier. Haru took a few breaths to collect himself, before patting Yukiji on the back.

"Get up there, Yukiji!" Haru shouted like a drill sergeant. Yukiji nodded and climbed as fast as his body would take him. Haru climbed up after him, but nearly halfway up, Yukiji started to pant of exhaustion.

"I feel lightheaded…" Yukiji said, panting between words.

"Push yourself! I'll carry you there if I have to!" Haru shot back, but he suddenly looked up and saw Yukiji wasn't there anymore. Haru threw his arm back as fast as he could, grasping his arm hard and feeling flesh wrapping around his ankle, catching Yukiji without looking.

"A-AHH!" Yukiji cried, dangling from the leg Haru was grabbing, arms wrapped around Haru's leg. "H-help! I don't like this…!"

"Gotchu, buddy!" Haru exclaimed, slinging him onto his shoulders, Kiko getting off to the side as Haru pulled the two of them up, even though Setsuki was already at the top, and the light shining from the hatch in the bunker was shining on their heads. As they climbed through, Setsuki grabbed him by the hand and pulled the two up.

"We gotta get off the campus!" Setsuki said, the three of them running out of the bunker, the sun hitting their eyes as Yukiji leaned up to look at the sky, seeing three streaks running along it, and a trail of fire behind them.

"Guys… Those are missiles… Rio was serious… He's gonna bomb the school!" Yukiji cried out, Haru running at full speed with Yukiji on his shoulders as they broke the plane of the now deactivated electrical barrier and into the abandoned city. Slowly, the sound of a humming began to fill their ears.

"Hey! A helicopter!" Setsuki shouted, the other too looking at each side to see where it was coming from. The wash of the rotors began to whip at their clothes as Yukiji looked up. A spotlight splitting and shining through his fingers as a voice shouted over the intercom.

"We need to evacuate the area immediately! Climb aboard!" The voice shouted, the helicopter landing in front of them as the double doors swung open to reveal three pilots, all wearing helmets along with someone in a doctor uniform. One of the pilots gesturing to run forward, Setsuki, Haru and Yukiji had no time to look at the logo, or see who was in the helicopter. But Haru lept into the helicopter, Setsuki climbing in as well.

The rescuers in the back signaled with a finger at the pilot, who couldn't hear them. Shutting the double doors and hitting the throttle, the helicopter going forward at full speed.

"W-why aren't we pulling up!?" Setsuki shouted as the helicopter used it's yaw to duck and roll between skyscrapers.

"The explosion is going to be a radius! We need to be as far from the center as possible! Pulling up would waste too much time!" The copilot explained.

"We're going between buildings! W-we're gonna die!" Setsuki cried out in fear.

"Our pilots an expert, the Ultimate Pilot, in fact! Just hang on tight!"

"H-how'd you find us!?" Haru shouted at the copilot.

"A bunch of lockers shot out of the school. That was pretty much a signal of where you guys were. Welcome to the real world, you three!" He said, Setsuki looked out the back, when a blinding flash hit, and a silent fireball began to climb into the sky that was the size of a mountain within seconds.

"You! The girl! Grab onto something! The shockwave is gonna hit!" He shouted. Setsuki hugged her body against the frame of the helicopter, as an absolutely massive shockwave hit the sides of it, nearly sending the entire helicopter flying into a building.

"A-AHHH!" Haru shouted, slamming into the side of the chopper, with Yukiji landing against him.

"Ow." Yukiji complained, as the helicopter continued into the distance and further away from the explosion. Soon, the sound began to fade, as the helicopter went back to cruising along the sky.

"Are you guys alright?" The pilot asked, taking his helmet off to reveal brown hair tied in a ponytail and a determined look on his face.

"Y-yeah… We're alive. So I guess that's good enough. Who are you guys?" Setsuki asked, climbing up to stand behind him and watch where he was going on the display.

"Future Foundation. One of the students in the killing game sent a signal and helped us trace it here." He replied.

"Thank God…" Setsuki said, sitting back in a chair and hugging her knees. "I thought we were fucked…"

"I'm afraid what just happened tonight is just the beginning…" The pilot replied. Looking at the ground. "I feel like we've just started a war with HAVOC"

"But for you guys? It's over. You're safe… And I need to get you to our base for questioning."

 **CHAPTER 6 COMPLETE**

 **FINAL TALLY: 12 STUDENTS DEAD, 3 STUDENTS ALIVE, 1 MIA.**

 **MASTERMIND: DEAD**

 **FUTURE CREST STUDENTS: HUNDREDS DEAD**

 **MASATO INOUE: DEAD**

 **FUTURE FOUNDATION MEMBERS: 1 MIA**

 **JAPANESE POPULATION: 2,000 DEAD AND COUNTING, 10,000+ INJURED**

 **HAVOC: ACTIVE**


	71. EPILOGUE

**EPILOGUE: Sayonara, Enoshima University**

Setsuki woke up in a cot, it had been three whole days since the killing game ended, and yet her body had been on autopilot. All of her adrenaline left her body, and for once, she felt sluggish. It was difficult to even brush her teeth anymore, despite how much her mom complained about her yellow teeth. She's heard hundreds of 'sorry's from other members of the Foundation… but Setsuki couldn't even reply.

She was stuck in a loop of wondering if Airi was ok. Wondering if Akira was ok. Wondering if her parents evacuated Kyoto before the bombs dropped on it… and where her life was going. She hadn't even spoken to Haru or Yukiji, who were dealing with stress in different ways. Haru was focusing on keeping himself physical, constantly on walks with Kiko whenever he wasn't eating or sleeping. Yukiji was playing chess against himself between long, 10 hour sleep sessions, but had otherwise completely withdrawn.

That all changed when Setsuki, walking around in a haze, bumped into someone who was hauling several books in her arms. A few of them dropping to the floor as the girl jumped back, startled.

"S-sorry!" Setsuki cried out, breaking her stupor. The woman leaned down, her long twin tailed hair dragging the floor as she began to pick up the books she dropped. Setsuki looked and saw that she had long purple hair and grey eyes behind large wire-rimmed glasses. She was dressed in a dark purple business suit and skirt with a red ribbon tied around her neck in a bow.

"W-w-what the hell is your p-problem? Do you run into every p-person in the hallway? I-Idiot." She said, her voice quiet but piercing. Setsuki got on both her knees, passing books to her to make the job easier.

"Sorry! I was walking around. I-I didn't know!" Setsuki apologized profusely.

"St-stop st-stuttering you idiot! Do you know st-stupid you sound?!" The woman Setsuki bumped into complained at her.

"Sh-shut up! You're st-stammering too! W-we're both st-stuttering like two goddamn awkward lose-..." Setsuki stopped talking as the woman stood back up, adjusting her glasses.

"Just… please stop talking. You… Wait." She said, tilting her head slightly as she went down to adjust the ribbon tied in a bow around her neck.

"What?" Setsuki asked, looking at the slightly shorter person.

"You're the p-person I was supposed to get to see Mr. Byakuya… Setsuki Yori, right?" she asked. "P-please don't tell him I called you an i-idiot.. He'll punish me again." The woman said, looking away from her.

"Mr… Byakuya?" Setsuki Yori. "And… punish? Is he into some kinky stuff? Ya know, ropes and whips?" Setsuki asked, realizing just then that isn't something she should be talking about to the people who rescued her.

"S-shut up. H-he doesn't... Don't assume stuff about him!" The woman shouted, face turning red.

"Okay okay! Jeez… Sorry." Setsuki said, rubbing the back of her head. "Anyway, so what's Byakuya want? Who are you?"

"I-I'm Toko, Toko Fukawa… Mr. Byakuya hired me as his a-assistant and bookkeeper..." Toko said.

"Ohh… wait, did you say Fukawa?" Setsuki asked.

"Yeah, what of it?" Toko asked.

"My mom owns one of your books! She got an audio book of it. And uhh… Actually maybe I shouldn't be talking about that. She made me listen to it on a road trip..." Setsuki said. "You uh… are a romance writer too… right?" She asked, trying to dispel the cloud of awkward she just made.

"...Okay, I don't want you to talk for the rest of this trip. Now come with me. We need to go to his o-office." Toko said, turning her back to Setsuki and walking down the simple grey hallway.

"...Uh-huh." Setsuki said, idly nodding.

"I said n-no talking!" Toko snapped back at her.

"That wasn't a word! You should know, Ms. Writer." Setsuki snarked, clearly frustrated by this woman's passive aggressive attitude.

"Then don't make any noise!" Toko said, "Play the q-quiet game, and get good at it." Toko shot, Setsuki just sighed as she wandered behind Toko, getting guided to a room with the title of Mr. Togami. Toko knocked on the door. "Mr. Byakuya! I got Setsuki, what do you want me to do with her?"

"Get someone else to gather Yukiji, and then find Haru Yamada. I'm not going to risk you being around someone like Yukiji." A commanding voice responded.

"Sir… I-I'm over that. I t-told you before." She replied. "I can be around guys like t-that." She added.

"You have, but we can't be sure if Jack has caught up with you over the years." the voice said.

Toko sighed. "Fine. I'll get Haru, and probably just find some st-stooge to find Yukiji. Maybe Hiro." Toko said.

"Good thinking. You have five minutes to return here before I decide to start this questioning proper." the voice said.

"Yes, Mr. Byakuya." Toko said before running off. Setsuki opened the door and slowly went inside. It was a very clean and well organized office with walls of books on one side. The other had a simple black leather couch, and a desk with three chairs in front of it. On the other side sat Mr. Byakuya. A sharp dressed man in a black suit, a white undershirt, and a navy blue tie. He wore a pair of square shaped glasses, his grayish brown hair neatly styled to frame his face and his cold eyes.

'Great… another Shiro.' Setsuki thought to herself as she wandered inside, the resemblance being the first thing she noticed.

"And you're Setsuki, hm?" Mr. Byakuya asked, Setsuki nodding, pulling the chair out and setting herself into it. "My apologies for not having done this questioning sooner, but the President and Vice President of the Future Foundation are speaking to the government over this Killing Game incident you were involved in. There may be an international crisis in the making… So they relegated this job to me, since I'm next in the chain of command."

"S-sorry." Setsuki said.

"No need for apologies. I'm sure you and your classmates have been having a rough time processing everything that's happened so the delay was good. I'm sure you agree that you've been through enough lately." Byakuya surmised, Setsuki nodding.

After a few minutes of awkward silence, there was another knock. "Mr. Byakuya! I got Haru Yamada! He's kinda… boarish."

"Boarish?!" Haru exclaimed through the door "Whatchu mean by that?!"

"You're a big sweaty boar man! That's what!" Toko shouted at him.

"Are you complaining cuz I thought you were the maid? Sorry, jeez!" Haru shot back.

"Toko, stop harassing the killing game survivors!" Byakuya shouted.

"S-sorry, sir!" Toko called, before opening the door and letting Haru inside. Haru walked up and sat beside Setsuki.

"Hey. You doin' okay, Setsuki?" Haru said, patting his friend on her shoulder.

"About as good as I can be… After everything, Heh." Setsuki said with a weak smile. Kiko leapt off Haru's shoulder and onto Byakuya's desk.

"Get off my paperwork, dog." Byakuya warned, pointing a finger at Kiko, who simply tilted her head and sniffed at his took a deep breath as he sighed. "Fine, just don't relieve yourself on it."

"Uhh… Sir. You'll see that she's a good girl. Uh. Sir. She's trained very well." Haru said, trying too hard to sound formal.

"Yes, I believe you wanted her registered as the 'Ultimate Good Dog' but were rejected." Byakuya pointed out.

"...You actually did that?" Setsuki asked, Haru laughed a bit.

"I just thought she was a really good dog, okay?" Haru said, chuckling as another knock echoed from behind them, the door opening.

"Yo, Byakuya! I got the sleepy kid! He got lost a few times but I guided him here like a pro!" came from a tall, scraggly man with the strangest combination of a suit and tie, and dreadlocks. He had a crystal ball in one of his hands, which he was casually rolling between his fingers as he spoke. He also was unshaven with a scraggly beard, and smelled a bit like cheap incense. Yukiji followed behind him, acting very withdrawn and keeping his hands to his chest like he was a scared bunny rabbit.

"And now Yasuhiro's here. Wonderful." Byakuya said, rubbing his forehead with a single hand.

"How's it goin' B? Haven't seen ya in a few months." the man named 'Yasuhiro' said with a wave. "I hope it's okay, I brought Hina. She's on lunch break but she got curious."

"Hry Byrkya! Hey Torgo!" said a woman coming behind Hiro and Yukiji, attempting to speak through a mouthful of donut she had packed into one hand. She was tall and had dark skin, with brown hair in a tight ponytail with a few hairpins, she was wearing a simple jacket over a short skirt that showed her toned legs.

"H-Hina! St-stop eating that in here! Y-you're getting crumbs everywhere!" Toko shouted, shaking slightly.

"Toko, you're dissing on how I donut? You just don't get it. They're good for you! I've said this for years." the woman exclaimed.

"Hell yeah! Donut me!" Setsuki exclaimed, suddenly broken from her stupor at the word donut.

"It's on!" Hina said, tossing a donut at Setsuki. "Catch!"

"Yeaaaah~!" Setsuk shouted, grabbing the donut and happily munching.

"Finally, someone gets it." Hina said with a triumphant smile.

"I j-just vacuumed the office! You're a-awful!"

"Toko, ya know a secretary's just supposed to take messages and junk. Ya don't gotta be his servant!" Hiro pointed out.

"I wanna go a-above and beyond my secretary duties. Unlike you, you c-cur. You just watch old movies and run a racketeering scam on the s-side!"

"Hey! I run a very legitimate fortune-telling business on the side! It makes ends meet! Just because your third and sixth eye are blind to the conveyance of this world's natural harmonics doesn't mean it's not legit!"

"Grrr… are you g-gonna keep talking nonsense?!" Toko said through gritted teeth before Byakuya slammed his hand on the table, startling Kiko before she went back to chasing her own tail.

"Everybody stop! We are here because we have survivors of a killing game! You can do your comedy routine on your own time! If you don't have something to ask, get the hell out of my office!" Byakuya shouted, the arguing former Ultimates coming to a stop.

"Y-yes, Mr. Byakuya!" Toko said with a bow.

"Ack! Sure thing, B." Hiro replied, rubbing the back of his head.

"Toko, ready the survivors some hot chocolate. They'll need something to calm their nerves." Byakuya ordered, Toko nodding and leaving the office.

"And get me one." Hina said as Toko went to shut the door.

"You're not who I'm talking about, Asahina."

"...You suck, Byakuya." Hina said, arms crossed and pouting.

"Now, onto business." Byakuya said as he adjusted his tie. "I just need an explanation as to.. What happened to you. Then, I'll pass you to my lead investigator to see if we can use your information to locate where HAVOC is operating." Byakuya explained.

"R-right." Setsuki replied.

"So the first question… Is this all of you?"

"Well… yes and no. We had five of us, but Akira and Airi… they…" Setsuki began, fists tightening. "They were taken to the next killing game."

"They… They were taken? They're going to be in more than one killing game in a row?" Byakuya asked, surprised.

"They said this was the 20th… Has that not happened before?" Setsuki asked.

"I mean… No. This hasn't happened before except in one circumstance. Did the mastermind explain anything about HAVOC or its inner workings?" Byakuya asked.

"Not really. Sorry… They just said they were streaming it live." Haru added.

"Unfortunately this seems to be going nowhere. I want to take you to our lead investigator. She needs to tell you about a few things you need to know about what happens to you next." He explained, standing up and showing the three another door in his office, opening it to see Toko standing in the hall with a tray of hot chocolate.

"Ah, sorry Toko. We're going to need to leave the office. The survivors don't know much about what happened. We'll need to get her involved." Byakuya explained.

"Oh great. H-her?" Toko said.

"Mhm. Hiro, Hina. You two can join us for this if you want."

"Alright! Here, Toko. Lemme carry that for ya." Hina offered, reaching to grab the tray.

"N-no way! Mr. Byakuya gave me an o-order! I'm n-not letting a klutz like you screw this up for me!" Toko exclaimed, trying to keep the tray away from Hina. 

"Klutz?! Who are you calling are klutz?!" Hina shouted, Byakuya sighing and shaking his head.

"Let's just go…" he muttered "The longer I'm here the longer I'm considering falling headfirst off a building." Byakuya said as he, Hiro and the survivors walked off.

"Oooh! I haven't done that in a while! It's all about rippin' the cord at just the right time!" Setsuki said cheerfully.

"...Scratch that. Ah, perfect. We're here." Byakuya said as they came upon a door. Byakuya opening it to find a massive amount of written on note pads and a single woman with long silver hair and a purple outfit, with matching purple gloves taking notes as she watched a screen intently.

"Come in. I've been reviewing the archived footage." The woman said.

"Uhm… Can I ask why?" Setsuki replied.

"Calculating the potential trajectory of both lockers by using the school, and the angle of the sun as references, along with the speed and acceleration of the lockers to try and triangulate the locations the two lockers went. Do you know who was inside these lockers?" the woman asked, her voice calm and focused, even though Setsuki only knew half of those words.

"My friends. Airi and Akira. They helped us get out of the school… But they were kidnapped and put in another killing game." Setsuki said, looking at the floor.

"...I see." She said, standing back up straight. "And this is east of Kyoto Prefecture, right?" She said, looking behind her and looking at Setsuki with her soft violet eyes. "The sun was slightly west. And the nuke was fired off at 3:13 PM… I suspect one may be heading for Tokyo area..." She said, grabbing her notebook and writing down more information

"Uhm… Who are you?" Yukiji asked.

"Kyoko Kirigiri. I'm a detective Byakuya hired to help him investigate the current situation. I assume part of my job will be tracking the location of your two friends. I'm also the lead operator of my family's detective agency."

"Oh… Is that what all these notes are for?" Setsuki asked.

"I apologize for the uncleanliness. I'm usually more organized than this. But.. I'm entering this investigation blind. I have to gather as much information I can before I can put it in some kind of comprehensible order." Kyoko stated. Flipping the page on her notepad.

"Can we help?" Haru asked.

"Sorry, but I'm fairly certain that this job is mostly something I'm capable of doing thanks to my skills. I assume that Byakuya brought you here for information on what you three should be doing next." She explained, using a remote to play the footage forward frame by frame to calculate the other locker.

"I haven't finished investigating, and… I don't want to ruin my train of thought, but I guess it could wait." Kyoko added, shaking her head a bit. "I have someone who might be able to explain this better while I focus."

"Sorry if we're bothering." Yukiji said, somewhat upset by how useless he felt.

"You're not. This is just an important part of my research." She added, pulling out a small stool and sitting on it to slowly start putting her notes into a single notebook by unhooking the pages from the loops and clipping them to the blank clipboard. The door opened behind the three survivors, along with the sound of exhausted panting.

"S-sorry, Kyoko. Ever since I got here I feel like I've been running everywhere. But if I run too fast, I end up tripping." said the man standing at the door. He had short brown hair combed no particular way. He was also shorter than most of the people there, and yet was still dressed in a suit and tie, along with slightly childish looking brown eyes.

"Makoto. You brought the waivers, right?" Kyoko asked, Makoto looking at both his arms, finding a stack of papers under his left arm.

"Yeah." He said with a nod.

"And the pens?" Kyoko asked again.

"Uhh…" He stammered, searching for a second, and finding two ink pens in his front pocket "Okay I found them."

"Makoto!" Hina squealed out, running up from behind Makoto and giving him a hug. "It's been way too long!"

"Ack! Hey, Hina. It's good to see you too." Makoto said.

"I think you woulda got bored running a school." Hina said, squeezing him slightly in her hug.

"A little bit. There's a loooooot of paperwork. That part's awful." Makoto said, scratching the back of his head.

"Heh, tell me about it. You would not believe the amount of stuff Byakuya has me singing every day." Hiro said, rubbing his wrist. "My wrist hurts, and not for the usual reason."

"...What? Eww! Don't tell them that!" Hina shouted.

"HOLDING THE CRYSTAL BALL, HINA! Get your head out of the gutter!" Hiro yelled in response and giving the crystal ball in his hand a slow twirl. "This thing's legit ancient Chinese crystal. It's heavy!" He added.

"...I thought you bought it on Ebay." Hina said, clearly not believing him.

"From LEGIT sources, Hina." Yasuhiro argued.

"Riiiight." Hina said with a shrug as she walked into the room. "Hey, Kyoko! You find them yet?"

"I've pinpointed a prefecture for one. The other has the camera block it for a second. I might need to watch it a few more times. One's definitely going to Tokyo." Kyoko surmised.

"Ah yes, Tokyo. The capital of… uhh.. Tokyo stuff. Man, I haven't been there in a while." Hiro said, trying to sound sage in his nonsense.

"Makoto. These are the survivors Byakuya was speaking of. They need to know the options they have after escaping the Killing Game." Kyoko explained, Makoto nodding and passing some papers to Kyoko, before setting a few others on the table, and setting the pens ontop of each one.

"But.. Are you sure? I don't really work here, ya know." Makoto mentioned.

"But Hiro n' I do! We can totally co-opt everything you say. We're legit and stuff." Hina said, pointing a thumb at herself.

"I guess that works… Can you get me a chair, Hina?" Makoto asked.

Hina nodded, grabbing chairs for Makoto and the survivors. Toko finally caught up with the group and handed mugs to each of them. "Sorry, they might have cooled down a bit. The one with marshmallows melted into goop." She mentioned.

"Okay that one's mine." Hiro said, reaching for the mug when Toko suddenly slapped his hand away.

"H-hands off! Th-these are for the s-survivors! Not you!" Toko hissed out.

"I'm a survivor! I'm an OG Survivor! Original.. uhm… Y'know. Survivor." Hiro argued, Toko simply ignoring him and giving the goopy marshmallow mug to Yukiji.

"...Can I have a KitKat with this?" he asked innocently.

"...H-huh?" Toko asked. "T-the hell would you want a KitKat for?" Toko asked, somewhat confused by the request of more chocolate.

"I haven't had a KitKat in days." he said matter-of-factly, Toko tilting her head at Yukiji, looking at him like he was particularly tricky puzzle.

"Ahem." Makoto said, clearing his throat and scooting his table up to the three of them so he could sit in the chair behind it. "I guess I have to explain some things about what you three might have to do in the wake of what happened."

"Being an Ultimate student is rough, and it's even rougher in troubling times like this when the Despair fanatics are starting to get riled up again… And it makes us worried for your safety. The Ultimate title pretty much follows you wherever you go, so it makes you easy to find, and potentially harm." Makoto started to explain, folding the pages back to reveal a signature section.

"We're down to few options when people survive a killing game… It's like a dark cloud over their head.. The feeling you can't return to your own life again." He said, looking away for a second. "So… Option A is kind of like witness protection. We'll have to change your name, and you'll have to stay away from practicing your Ultimate Talent in a public setting… But changing your identity and possibly even your appearance is a good way to try and get you a normal life again." Makoto continued.

"A normal life?" Yukiji asked.

"Yeah… Just spending time with friends, doing what you like… not having this burden on your shoulders. It doesn't make you weak to admit you want to be left alone… It makes you normal. You want a life. It's weird people like me that decide to stick around after all that happened." Makoto replied, trying to make a joke out of it.

"We uhm… we heard that the Future Foundation did something weird with a drug called Orpheus." Haru asked him, getting a soft nod from the older man.

"I heard about that, back when I used to work for them. They didn't publicize the drug… but it ended up being stolen by someone and duplicated. Once we found the ill effects, we destroyed each and every single one we could find." Makoto explained, passing a pen to Setsuki.

"So… outside of witness protection, what's the other option?" Setsuki asked.

"You join the Future Foundation. Their track record is a bit spotty, but it's mostly good people. They'll train you to fend for yourself and take care of others… but you spend most of your life being an agent for them like my sister, Komaru, or being affiliated with them like Kyoko and I were." He added.

"...Will I help find Airi?" Setsuki asked, leaning forward.

"That might not be your exact job bu-" Makoto started, but was cut off by Setsuki.

"I'm joining if it means I find Airi. I have to find her…" She said, eyes starting to tear up.

"You seem really determined to find their missing agent." Kyoko interjected.

"She's my best friend! She saved my life. She intercepted a vial of poison that would have killed me, and went blind because of it." Setsuki explained passionately.

"She's blind now?" Makoto asked.

"Y-yeah…" Setsuki said, nodding.

"Retrieving Airi Kudo is a high priority in this. Though I'm not certain that you'll be sufficiently prepared to undertake a task of that caliber." Byakuya explained.

"I don't care what I gotta go through. If your training involves being set on fire, I'll bring gasoline!" Setsuki declared, pounding on fist into her hand.

"...Not sure that's a good thing, but okay. I'll set up formal papers for you to join Future Foundation later. What about Yukiji and Haru?" Byakuya asked.

"Setsuki… Would you be mad at me if I wanted to go home?" Yukiji asked, Setsuki turning to the Ultimate Chessmaster.

"..No, it's fine, Yukes." Setsuki said.

"I'm just… tired. This whole thing hurt my heart… I don't know if I can keep confronting people like Rio. He's… not human. I can't believe other people could be like him… I can't believe other people would want to treat someone like he treated Wakako…" Yukiji said, feeling the sting of tears when Setsuki put her arms around him. "I want to go home…"

"It's okay, Yukiji. You've been through enough. I'll find Airi and Akira, I'll go in guns blazin! Pew, bang! Woosh. Save Akira and Airi at the same time, then win like.. 15 medals! I'll have so many medals, and you'll think I'm cool." Setsuki said, with finger guns for emphasis, Yukiji resting his head on her shoulder.

"Come back. You have to promise me you'll come back." Yukiji pleaded.

"I'll come back. You just... try and feel better, alright? Sorry you'll have to change your name and go somewhere else for a while, but that can't be that bad, can it?" Setsuki said, reassuringly.

"Of course we'll inform your parents about what's happening." Hiro tried to say with a professional voice.

"Uhh… I'm an orphan." Yukiji replied.

"Oh. Woops! Shit. Sorry! I didn't mean that. I mean… yeah, I knew that!" Hiro said, putting his hands on his hips.

"Ugh, Hiro!" Hina snapped before turning to Yukiji, ruffling his hair a bit. "Don't worry, we'll get in contact with your orphanage. We'll get you a nice place, alright? Maybe somewhere with a hot tub." Hina said, Yukiji giving a weak smile as Makoto walked over with a pen and sheet of paper.

"Sign here." Makoto said, Yukiji taking a pen and calmly writing his name. "Now, how about you Haru?"

"Look, Setsuki… I'm just as determined as you but.. Well… I have a lot of things I have to do back at home. I have a whole kennel to help run… I can't leave those dogs.. They're my family just as much as my family's my family, man. And I don't wanna think of what would happen… if they got to Ren…" Haru said, Kiko nuzzling against him.

"I gotcha, Haru. My mom's pretty used to me doing stupid stuff, so I don't think she'll mind me being a special agent n' stuff." Setsuki said.

"Your mom's used to it?" Makoto asked.

"She only found out I went skydiving after I broke both my legs." Setsuki replied with a little chuckle.

"Alright. That settles it. Setsuki will sign up with Future Foundation, and we'll work on sending the rest of you back home and get ready for your identity changes." Makoto said, passing the papers to Toko for her to process them.

"I was in a killing game before… Two, in fact. It's hard… But if Akira is as strong willed as you said she was… She'll make it out. Airi's trained to make it out as well… You know good people, Setsuki." he said, before looking at Kyoko again.

"...We'll need to head out so Kyoko can concentrate, though." Makoto said, everyone slowly getting up and filing out of the room except for the detective.

Setsuki, Haru and Yukiji looked at each other as the older adults left the room, the students went into the hallway together, leaving the three of them alone.

"..So uh… I guess this is goodbye, huh?" Haru said, looking at his two shorter friends.

"Yeah… But I ain't meeting you guys again until I got an Akira and Airi with me." Setsuki said, as Haru gently lifted his dog back to his shoulder.

"I… I can't believe there's just three of us now." Yukiji said, saddened.

"Just… Don't forget who we lost." Haru said, somewhat somberly.

"Wish me luck on my mission, okay?" Setsuki said, looking to the corner and seeing Byakuya gesturing her to follow him.

"Only if you hug both of us." Haru added. Setsuki grabbed both of them and hugged them with all her might, squeezing the two together in her arms.

"Goodbye, Setsuki. Thanks for always being... uhh.. Setsuki." Yukiji said, returning the hug.

"You too, you dork." Setsuki said with a smile.

"I'm Setsuki?" Yukiji asked.

"That's not what I meant." Setsuki said, sighing and chuckling.

"I'm gonna miss you guys…" Haru said, Kiko squeezing herself between the three.

"That's what phones are for." Yukiji joked, Setsuki just gently ruffling his hair a bit.

"...I should go see Byakuya before he gets pissed at me." Setsuki complained, letting go of the two of them and walking away as Yukiji and Haru watched her walk away and down the hall.

Setsuki was going to save Akira and Airi, she swore her life on it.

 **End**

 **To Be Continued in Danganronpa XXI: Diamond Double Barrel**

 **Main Plot, Story Direction, Class Trials, Depressing Scenes, Character Stuff by ArcLagoon, AKA 'Alli/The Writer'**

 **Daily Lives, Supplementary Writing, Obscure Pop Culture References by Megafighter3 AKA 'Co-Writer Mega'**

 **Written in 10 months  
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 _Ultimate Lucky Student Drawing for Hope's Peak 2023!_

 _Our lucky winner?_

 _Junichi Ando!_

 _Wish him luck in the next semester of Hope's Peak Academy!_


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